


Part 1, The Occupation

by peldarjoi



Series: Terrorists Don't Get to Be Heroes [1]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Bajorans, Canon-Typical Violence, Cardassians, F/M, Gen, Non-Explicit Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-16 10:18:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8098321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peldarjoi/pseuds/peldarjoi
Summary: A young Bajoran gives everything in a fight for her people's freedom.





	1. 1. BAJOR: 9364 (2362, EARTH CALENDAR)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seven years before the end of the Cardassian Occupation.

Norvish Keedra crouched behind a massive fallen tree just outside a remote Cardassian post in the forests of the Joralla mountain foothills. Walo knelt next to her and Oardoli had circled around to their left. Their resistance cell had been laying low for the past few months since Kee, her uncle and the other three recruits had joined them. Just that morning their leader, Ren Larno, had decided that she’d had enough training to participate in a quick hit alongside these two veteran fighters.

Their target was a small, scarcely-manned post deep in the thick forest, the location where the sensor grid for this part of the Hill Provinces was operated. Their goal was to disable the hub, taking down this entire section of the grid for at least a couple of weeks until it could be rebuilt. Oardoli had created a distraction while Ren used an access code Kee’s uncle, Joial, had stolen from a Cardassian computer, and slipped inside to plant three bombs. The two Cardassian soldiers guarding the entrance were now back at their posts, unaware that there was an intruder inside. Chances were good that he’d have to fight his way out, so that’s what Kee and Walo were there for.

Kee flexed her fingers and fought to calm the anxiety that was building inside her. What if she couldn’t hit her target? What if her phaser didn’t work? What if, Prophets forbid, Ren was hit in the crossfire? Of the new recruits, she was the youngest at age eleven, yet the first to be brought on a mission. Most of the members of the cell had objected to someone so young being allowed to join, but she’d been adamant, and their apprehension only made her more determined to prove that she could be as capable as any of them. How old did you really have to be to pull a trigger anyway? She forced her mind to focus on the mission and consciously relaxed her shoulders, shifting her phaser rifle slightly to keep her target within the scope.

Too much time had past, she was sure. How long did it take to plant a couple of bombs anyway? Of course, Kee knew it was more complicated than that. He had to avoid being detected until after they were in place, and that could take some time. Patience had never been her strong suit, but she was beginning to understand that she’d have to learn.

The Cardassians below moved around to keep warm. One of them had found a spot to stand in where the sun was able to break through the canopy, but the other continued to roam. Not that it was all that cold, Kee wasn’t even wearing a jacket today, but Cardassians had such a narrow comfort range. Even their own biology declared that they didn’t belong here.

Suddenly they reacted to the sound of phaser fire inside. Kee’s heart pounded but she breathed slowly like Ren had taught her and pressed the trigger. An orange beam lanced forward but her aim was slightly off and she only hit the soldier in the leg. He dove for cover. Walo had already dispatched his target and turned to fire on the injured one. Kee moved quickly, firing repeatedly until she hit her target before Walo had a chance to fix her mistake. A small piece of her mind registered that she’d taken a life. _Don’t belong here._ She reminded herself.

Just then Ren appeared, firing behind him into the building. As Kee and the other two laid down cover fire he bolted for the trees. Two more Cardassians returned fire from just inside. One blast hit the tree just below where Kee’s phaser rested, sending chunks of wood and splinters flying. She ducked, but immediately got back up to fire again, together she and Walo pinned the Cardassians inside.

Ren’s voice came over the comm telling them that he was about to detonate the explosives, _“Burn!”_

She and Walo ducked down and covered their heads just as a wave of fire and debris washed over.

After the fragments had stopped raining down on them and her hearing had returned, she heard Ren on the comm again, “Everybody still with us?”

Walo spoke for the two of them, “Yeah, we’re alright.”

Oardoli’s voice crackled over the comm, “I’m here.”

Kee looked back toward where the building had been, her heart still pounding, to see nothing but charred rubble. Even the bodies were gone, vaporized by the explosion. Walo looked too, scanning the area for survivors. There were none. She’d seen plenty of violence in her life. In the refugee camps there were murders and beatings on a daily basis, but that was all different from what she’d just witnessed. This was an organized strike. This made a difference. This was the Resistance.


	2. BAJOR: 9366 (2364, EARTH CALENDAR)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two years have passed since the previous chapter.

Kee followed Ren inside what appeared to be an abandoned pre-occupation medical building, phasers raised and ready for whatever was inside. Ilwea and Oardoli followed close behind them. The dark interior of the building did seem to be abandoned. Old, dirty furniture lay around haphazardly, parts of some walls had fallen down, the windows were all broken out with vines climbing in to reclaim the building back into the forest. Their anonymous, off-world contact had sent them intel that there was something going on here, but it looked like, for the first time ever, he might be wrong. Still, they would diligently search every empty room. As they passed a collapsed section of the building Ren motioned Oardoli and Kee to the right while he and Iwea took the left side.

Kee swung her phaser into the first room and peered into the darkness. Her earring gently grazed the right side of her neck after the quick movement. She was still getting used to it being there. Joial had only recently given it to her, having modeled the design after her father’s. She sidestepped away from the door, if anyone was inside she didn’t want to give them a nice silhouette to shoot at. When she didn’t hear any noise she raised her flashlight, clicked it on and passed it once around the room then clicked it back off and moved on to the next room.

Room after room it was the same thing. Out-of-date medical equipment, broken and dirty, but no Cardassians. Not any trace that anyone had been here in fifty years. Kee stepped into another room and just as she was going to switch on her light she felt something cold against her neck followed by the hiss of a hypospray, then nothing.

* * *

When Kee woke it took her drugged mind a moment to sort out her surroundings. Her wrists and shoulders hurt and she slowly realized that she was hanging from a pair of wrist restraints, the floor just beyond the reach of her feet. Fear seized her heart as her vision cleared and the rest of the room resolved around her. In contrast to the dilapidated building she’d just been in, this room looked clean and modern, brightly lit by Cardassian standards. Trays of tools sat menacingly nearby. A monitor on the wall showed her vital signs and she could see the exact moment her heart rate had spiked a moment ago. She was alone in the room, but knew that wouldn’t last.

This was it, the experience she’d been dreading since joining the Resistance. She’d be tortured either until she was rescued or until she gave up information on her friends. Ren and the others would be looking for her, she only hoped for their sake that they could get to her in time. The fear of betraying them was much more terrifying than anything the Cardassians could do to her. She began rehearsing what Ren had taught her: _allow the pain to pass through, don’t let it become part of you. It’s temporary, it is not the whole of your existence._

The door opened, pulling her mind from her thoughts. A glinn and an assistant entered. “Ah, you’re awake.” He said, greeting her with an absurdly friendly tone of voice. Kee remained silent with her eyes fixed ahead. He stepped into her line of sight, “I think we both know what’s going to happen here, so I’ll give you one and only one opportunity to save yourself a great deal of agony. Tell me how many of your companions are here and what they know about this facility and you’ll receive a quick execution.”

She continued to stare past him but her vital signs on the monitor betrayed her. Brain waves, heart rate, everything spiked. But if he expected this to be easy because of her age, he was going to be disappointed. Ren had trained her, taught her to use what he called an ‘anchor code’, a code that was meaningless to anyone else, but to her it held great significance. Each piece of the code was to represent something or someone important to her. She began repeating it in her mind: _rekja j 2 uranak 53 4 7 kejal vunek… rekja j 2 uranak 53_ …

“Have it your way, then.” The glinn said lightly, turning away to his assistant, who handed him two short blades. When he turned back to her he leaned in close to her and pressed one of them to her side, slowly breaking through her skin.

Kee closed her eyes to shut out the panic. _Allow the pain to pass through. It flows around you as you’re secured by your anchor._

* * *

It had been nearly an hour since any of them had heard from Kee. Ren and Ilwea searched all of the rooms again, still no sign of her. He’d sent Oardoli outside to check for any evidence that she’d left willingly or otherwise, but still nothing. If she’d been beamed away, they’d have no chance of finding her. Suddenly a scream pierced the silence. He recognized Kee’s voice immediately. He listened as she screamed again. It was coming from somewhere behind him, deep inside the building. He and Ilwea hurried toward it as fast as caution would allow.

They passed a series of rooms they had already searched but stopped when they seemed to have passed the source of the sound. He turned around and backtracked into the room where it seemed loudest. He shined his flashlight around the room and Ilwea’s beam of light joined his. “There. Do you see that?” He pointed out some scrapes on the floor in the corner that didn’t look like they belonged.

“A false wall?” Ilwea asked.

Ren nodded and set down his flashlight so that it would shine into the corner while Ilwea contacted Oardoli on the comm.

* * *

_rekja j 2 uranak 53 4 7 kejal vunek_ … she repeated to herself again and again. She’d had her share of injuries over the last two years with the resistance, but this pain had been far more intense than she could have imagined. The glinn had slipped one of the blades under her skin low on her left side and one into her ribcage on her right side. Using a remote activation, they allowed him to apply pain through her body between the two points. Tears seeped out of the corners of her eyes and she assured herself that it was only a physiological response, she was definitely not crying. She gasped for breath and focused on her anchor, detaching her mind from her body like she’d been taught.

“Let’s hurry this up.” The glinn said to his assistant, clearly irritated that he had been unable to break her as quickly as he’d expected.

Pressure from a hypospray on her neck followed by a hiss. Her stomach suddenly heaved and she barely kept herself from vomiting. Her head swam and she squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them the walls seemed like they were swaying in and out.

“Now, let’s try this again. What do you know about this facility?”

To her surprise she found herself laughing. A side effect of the drug? The glinn grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her head back. “And what do you find funny here?”

“You and your tus buddies can’t even break a thirteen-year-old girl.” She laughed again. The glinn pressed a knife to her throat and she closed her eyes, expecting to feel it bite deep into her flesh but instead only felt it graze the surface of her skin as he pulled it away. He threw her head back forward and circled around in front of her.

Without really understanding why, she taunted him again, “Picking on a little girl, your family must be so proud.”

He swung his arm up and struck her across the face with the back of his hand. Pain exploded across her face and through her head. When the worst of it had passed she felt a trickle of blood run down her cheek. Then he told his assistant, “Again. Maximum dose.”

Once more she felt the hypospray and the room seemed to spin. She closed her eyes to keep from feeling dizzy but it was no use. She clung again to her anchor, _rekja j 2 uranak 53 4 7 kejal vunek_ … Her entire existence was summed up in that code. Her father had loved the spice rekja, the initial for her mother’s name, her brothers were twins, uranak meant protect, 9353 was the year she was born, she was one of four that joined the resistance together, Bajor was the 7th planet in the system, kejal meant freedom and vunek represented the Prophets’ temple.

He stood before her with his control pad, his thumb on the activation switch. “What do you know about this facility?” He said slowly. When she didn’t reply he pressed the button and burning pain filled her abdomen like fire was consuming her from the inside. She screamed until she ran out of breath then he switched it back off.

He leaned close to her ear. “ _Where_ is Ren Larno?”

Ren. His face appeared in her mind. He would be searching for her by now. She spoke without intending to, “Ren….” Then clamped down on the thought and turned back to her anchor, _rekja j 2 uranak_ … Pain again, she screamed. How could she still be alive when her body was burning like this? Then it stopped again just long enough to take a breath, then more pain until her throat was raw from screaming.

She was repeating her anchor in her mind nonstop now. The pain was more than she could bear, the only thing she had left to cling to was the constant chant: _rekja j 2 uranak 53 4 7 kejal vunek_ … Without realizing it, her lips began to move, following the words in her mind, “4 7 kejal vunek…”

Believing it was some kind of code, the glinn leaned in closer.

“rekja j 2 uranak 53 4 7 kejal vunek…” Her voice was barely audible but he grasped onto the apparent information and jotted it down onto a padd.

“It seems she’s not as strong as she thought.” He said to his assistant.

“Shall I process the body?” The assistant asked.

“No, keep her alive for now. At least until we know whether this will pan out. It could still be nothing but drugged ramblings.” With that he walked out of the room with the assistant following, but Kee had already slipped into unconsciousness by then.

* * *

After an agonizing amount of time listening to Kee’s screams, Ren and his companions had finally been able to open the false wall and he and Ilwea slipped behind it into a stairwell leaving Oardoli to keep watch. They followed it down to a corridor that was a mirror of the corridor above, except clean, lit and unmistakably Cardassian in design. They must have been using the aboveground ruins as camouflage and had refurbished the underground level for their own use. But why?

When the screaming had started again they were able to pinpoint the exact room it was coming from, but by the time they got there it had stopped. A sick felling twisted his stomach but before he could formulate a plan for getting to her, the door opened and two Cardassians marched out. Ren waved Ilwea back into a recessed doorway. The pair of Cardassians walked away down a side corridor below where the above-ground level had collapsed. When they were out of sight he and Ilwea slipped into the room.

What they found there was a gruesome scene. Kee was hanging from the ceiling by bound wrists, her head slumped forward, her small body bruised and bloodied. The only indication that she was even alive was the console displaying a weak heartbeat. “Kee!” He said, rushing toward her. He lifted her up into his arms and her head lolled onto his chest. Ilwea grabbed a laser scalpel from a tray to cut through the chain, releasing Kee’s arms.

“We need to get her out of here. Are we still clear up there?” He asked Oardoli through the comm.

“We’re good.” She replied and they retraced their steps back to the spiral staircase and out through the false wall. They had almost reached the entrance to the upper building when phaser fire lanced through the air next to them close enough to make his hair stand up.

Oardoli and Ilwea fired back, covering him. They dashed into the forest. Carrying Kee’s unconscious body slowed him down some, but not enough. They wound through the forest, switching back on hairpin turns down into the canyon that was thick enough with vegetation that they quickly disappeared.

Finally safe, Ren laid Kee down, propped up against the trunk of a tree. Ilwea continued on to retrieve the med kit they’d stashed nearby. Ren cupped her chin and lifted her face to his. “Kee.” He snapped his fingers in front of her face and called her name again. “Kee.”

Kee finally began to stir but before she was fully awake she lunged away from him into a bush to vomit. He held back her stringy, blond hair and waited for her to catch her breath.

Oardoli looked at them over her shoulder, “Ikenaohl.”

Ren nodded. Ikenaohl was a common drug used during interrogation and one of the side effects was intense nausea. He pulled a pack of water off of his belt and handed it to Kee who tipped her head up and dribbled it into her mouth, swished the water around and spat it out before handing the pack back to him. She sat back on her knees, still doubled over and breathing hard. She wrapped her hands around her head, which was probably spinning as a result of the drug. He bent down to look into her pale green eyes and said softly, “Kee, we need to know what you told them.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper, “I did what you said. The anchor code. They fell for it.”

Ren straightened up and smiled, “That’s my girl.”

Ilwea returned with the med kit and began treating Kee’s wounds while she slipped back into a drugged stupor.

Ren stood next to Oardoli.

“Why aren’t they bombing this entire canyon right now?” She asked, mirroring the dread he was feeling.

“I don’t know.” He paused as he looked down at Kee, “But we’re going back in there as soon as possible.”

* * *

For the second time that day Kee awoke from a drugged state, slowly grasping her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was repeating her anchor code and the Cardassians had believed it was genuine intel. Now she seemed to be alone in the forest. Pain throbbed through her head and she shaded her eyes against the piercing light from the sunset. A sudden hand on her shoulder startled her before she realized it was Ilwea.

“Headache?” He asked.

She let out a long sigh, “Yeah.”

“It’ll pass.” He assured her.

She looked around, “Where are the others?”

“Ren wants to get back in there to see what’s going on. He and Oardoli went on ahead to scout it out incase they’ve increased their security since this morning.”

Kee slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, wincing at the pain in her head. “When they’re ready to go back in, I want to go too.”

He cupped her chin and lifted her face to study her eyes for signs of head trauma. “You should stay here and rest. We’ll come back for you.”

“You said it was only a headache. There are only four of us out here, Ren needs us all.” She insisted then pressed her hand against her head. Just talking seemed to increase the pain.

He handed her a water bottle, “Here, this will help your body get rid of the toxin.”

She drank down as much as she could before she had to take a breath.

“You’ll still have to convince Ren to bring you.” Ilwea told her.

“Yeah, I know.” She took one more drink of water and handed it back to him then bent down to rest her head in her hands. The pain was intense, but nowhere near as bad as what she’d just gone through. She concentrated on blocking it out as she had in the past with other injuries. At lease this was something she knew she could handle.

Ren’s voice came over the comm indicating that they were returning. She had a few more minutes to control the pain in her head before he and Oardoli appeared. He immediately bent down in front of her. “How are you feeling?”

She made sure to look him in the eye, “Just a headache. I’ll be fine. I’m going back in there with you.” She informed him.

He held her gaze for a long time, considering whether she was fit enough. On the one hand, she’d just been through a terrible experience, but he knew how strongminded she could be. The determining factor would be the fact that he needed all of them if he was going to pull off whatever he had planned. He finally sighed, “Alright, Kee, I’m not prepared to argue with you.” With that he sat on the ground next to her and cleared away some of the tree litter in front of him down to a clear patch of dirt.

While he was doing so, Kee combed her fingers through her hair and twisted it into a bun. Without a word, Oardoli handed her a couple of hairpins. “Thanks.” She told her as she secured the knot of hair onto the top of her head.

Using a stick, Ren drew a rectangle in the middle and a jagged line off to one side to represent the facility and the canyon ridge. “The way we went in before has two guards posted now but there’s a back entrance here.” He poked his stick at the back of the building. “Problem is that there are five guards back there hidden out of sight.”

“A trap.” Ilwea guessed.

Ren nodded, “There are six patrols out there now, plus a few, I’m not sure how many, farther out searching the forest.” He drew six rough, overlapping circles to indicate the patrolled areas. “But because of the terrain it’s difficult for them to stay in visual contact with each other.” Next he drew a hexagonal perimeter around the patrols. “So they’ve set trip sensors out here.” Trip sensors would make it difficult. Anything more than a falling leaf crossing the sensor path would be detected. And the grid extended ten meters above and below the emitter mounts.

“Whatever they have in there, they’re determined to keep it secret.” Oardoli added.

“How do we get past it?” Ilwea asked.

“One of us needs to climb up into the canopy and cross in the branches at least ten meters up.” Ren said, gesturing to the trees above them. “Then drop down and disable the sensor hub here,” he made a small circle just inside the perimeter.

“I’ll do it.” Kee volunteered. “I’m smaller and lighter. Any of you would sound like a tokk bat up there.”

“When you see the patrol pass this point you’ll have about three minutes to climb down and disable the hub.” Ren told her. “Just pry off the casing and…”

“I know how to do it.” She interrupted him.

“Ok. After the trip sensors are bypassed the rest of us can slip in between the patrols. The rear entrance is still our best bet, but we’ll need to take out the guards there silently.” Which meant no phasers and no lengthy hand-to-hand combat. A chokehold or a knife to the throat should work, but the knife would be faster, Kee thought coldly. “Once we’re in, we’ll see what we’ve got to work with.” He concluded. “Any questions?” When no one spoke up he gave Kee his hand phaser and said, “Let’s move.”

Kee walked with the others to a place far enough outside the perimeter that the patrols wouldn’t spot them. She selected a tree that split into two just about her height off of the ground. Ren gave her a boost and she pulled up and wedged herself between the two trunks. With one foot under her and the other against the opposite trunk, she inched herself upward. Her heart pounded and she tried to ignore the increasing distance between her and the ground. As she crept higher the trunks grew more flexible and swayed in the night breeze.

When she had reached the lowest branches she stopped for a moment to calm her breathing and steady her shaking hands. She closed her eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. After opening her eyes she began to assess which branches would be most likely to bear her weight. She leaned forward to grasp the most stable branches and began pulling herself higher, carefully choosing handholds and footholds. Every few steps she looked down to estimate her height. When she believed she had reached ten meters she climbed just a bit higher still. Then, locating a pair of branches that reached across to the next tree, she carefully worked her way across and into it.

She crossed two more trees this way, always cautious not to rustle the branches. If the Cardassians spotted her up there, she’d make easy target practice. Finally, she arrived at the section that would take her across the perimeter. She checked her height again to be sure she was well over the ten-meter mark. A patrol crossed below her and just inside. She took a breath and kept going, stepping across the invisible lattice of sensors and to the other tree.

From high up in the tree she watched the patrol move away from her and began climbing down as fast as her shaking hands would allow. The lowest branch was still three meters off of the ground. She lowered herself down so that she dangled from it, the pain in her shoulders reminding her of the events of that day. She pushed the thought away and dropped to the ground into a crouch.

Coming down out of the tree had cost her her three minutes and she heard the patrol coming back. She pressed herself flat against the wide tree trunk and forced herself to breathe slowly and quietly, willing her heart to slow down while silently placing her hand on the phaser in her belt. She waited and listened to the approaching Cardassian, eyeing the hub that was only a few steps away. She carried a device that masked her biosigns, she always did, but a direct tricorder scan could penetrate the scattering field. As he passed behind her she held her breath and didn’t dare move even after he was walking away from her.

Once she could no longer hear him she listened for the other one that would be patrolling this section, but heard nothing. She quickly darted to the sensor hub, skidding in the dirt on her knees, then flipped open her utility knife and pried off the casing. Again using her knife, she pulled two opticables out of their ports and cross connected them. The hub continued to function but no alert would be sent when the sensors were tripped.

Finally, she waved over her companions who had been following her progress. Together they made their way through the underbrush, stopping to wait for the second patrol to pass by. When they neared the rear entrance they split up, Ren silently assigning each of them to one of four hidden guards. Whoever took care of their assignment first would take the fifth.

Kee slowly approached the location of one of the guards, stepping carefully to avoid making a sound. Only when she was within two meters did she finally see him. She crept up behind him, her knife ready. He suddenly sat up straight. She could see that he had spotted Ilwea, he raised his comm to his mouth. Before he could speak into it, she leapt on him and dug her knife deep into his throat, making sure to sever his trachea first. After a few desperate attempts to fight back he went limp and she lowered his heavy body to the ground, lifting the phaser rifle off of his shoulder.

After pulling a tangle of vines over the body to conceal it, Kee continued on toward where Ren said the rear entrance would be and found him already there, crouched next to a Cardassian body. “You just had to take the fifth one for yourself, huh?” She whispered to him.

Ilwea and Oardoli arrived before he could respond. The entrance wasn’t much more than an old emergency exit with forest vines almost completely obscuring it, but as they shifted the vines out of the way they could see a modern locking mechanism attached to the door. “I’ll take care of this.” Oardoli said as she crouched down to examine the device and reached into her pocket to retrieve her tools.

Ren, Kee and Ilwea crouched there with their phasers ready and their backs to the door while she worked. After a few minutes, they heard a click and she whispered, “We’re in.”

Ren led the way with Kee by his side and Oardoli and Ilwea followed, guarding their rear. They proceeded down a long, dimly lit hallway that sloped downward. It was clear that this had been part of the original building. At the end of the hallway was another old door, but this one wasn’t locked. They slipped past it into a corridor that looked Cardassian in design.

The corridor had rooms on either side eerily similar to the layout of the upper level. They slipped into the first room to find that it was empty except for a console. Ren sat down and began attempting to log in using several codes they had acquired. The first two failed. A third failed attempt would set off the alarms. He took a visible breath and tapped in one more code. Finally, the display came to life. He called up a file directory, muttering to himself, “Now, let’s see what you’re up to here.”

Kee peered over his shoulder and watched the Cardassian characters scroll by, most of what she saw didn’t seem to have any meaning without context. Finally, she saw one that might give them the information they were looking for, “There, ‘progress reports’.” Ren scrolled back to the directory and opened it, then called up the most recent entry. It started out with typical Cardassian long-winded praise for the individual they were reporting to followed by obvious exaggeration of the project’s accomplishments.

Finally, almost half way down in the document the author finally got to the point. Kee read through a few paragraphs, picking out keywords, “Acetylcholine… neural transmitter… test subjects… endogenous chemical extraction!” That last word formed a knot in her stomach, “What is this?” She moved aside for Ilwea to take a look.

His brow furrowed deeper with each paragraph he read. “Prophets, Ren! They’re extracting neural transmitters from Bajoran test subjects in order to build bio-neural circuitry.”

“Are the test subjects here somewhere?” He asked.

Ilwea shook his head. “I can’t tell from this file.” Ren moved out of the seat to give him control of the console and he began opening up other files, searching for the answer while the others looked on in horrified silence.

Without knowing all of the facts yet, Kee’s mind conjured up the most disturbing possibilities: live, conscious Bajorans, restrained and hooked up to machinery that was slowly extracting chemicals from their brains. And who were they? Convicted criminals? Captured Resistance members? Laborers who could no longer work? She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, anxious to stop this gruesome experimentation. She looked up at Ren, normally so controlled, he looked tense and ready to leap into action.

Finally, Ilwea said, “Here it is.” He showed them a schematic he’d found. “This is where we are.” He said, pointing to a small room at the end of a long hallway. Then he traced another hallway with small rooms on either side, some appeared empty and some indicated equipment of various shapes and sizes. “This is where Kee was earlier.” He pointed to one of the rooms near their current position.

Kee hid her reaction as best she could, but the mention of what had happened to her was still sent a chill down her spine. Ilwea traced the hallway farther down where it opened into a larger room with what could indicate bio beds. The knot in her stomach tightened.

“Do we have access to internal sensors?” Ren asked, leaning over him.

Kee leaned in, too. “I don’t think there are internal sensors.” She tapped a few controls to call up a list of interface operations. “See there? The receiver module is missing.”

“They’re using an old building, maybe they never bothered to install a full grid.” Oardoli suggested over her shoulder.

Ren pointed to several dots along the hallway in the schematic, “These might be portable sensor units.” He looked at Oardoli, “Can you tap into them?”

She switched places with Kee and began digging into the system’s source code.

“We need to get to those people.” Ren told the other two. “Figure out what we can do for them, if anything and either wipe the memory core or blow the whole place.” Ren wasn’t one to plan too far ahead, taking advantage of each situation as it came. She didn’t expect much more of a plan out of him than what he’d just given. _Get to the test subjects._ That was their first goal, they’d figure out the rest from there.

Suddenly an alarm started blaring and the console Oardoli was working on went blank. “ _Kloss!_ ” She shouted, “I tripped an alarm. We’d better get out of here.”

“You three, see if you can get to that lab. I’ll shut down communications so they can’t call for help.” Ren ordered. They took positions on either side of the door and raised their weapons as Ren pressed the key to open the door. Phaser blasts cut through empty air. Kee and Oardoli peeked around the edge and fired back while Ilwea and Ren ducked through the doorway then laid down cover fire for them to do the same.

As the two groups exchanged fire, Ren split off in another direction to find and disable the comm. The rest of them worked their way backward toward the lab they’d seen on the schematic. Kee and Oardoli fired at the advancing Cardassians, taking turns covering and retreating, and Ilwea watched for any coming up behind them.

They stopped when they reached a section of hallway with no cover. “Now what?” Kee asked.

“Now,” Oardoli said, pulling a power cell out of her belt, “we improvise.” While Kee held the Cardassians back, Oardoli pulled out her knife and pried off the power cell’s casing. Then she dug the knife inside and finally popped out the safety mechanism. “Ready?” She asked the other two.

When they nodded she threw the modified power cell down the corridor toward the Cardassians. When it hit the floor, electricity began arcing between it and anything conductive around it, including the Cardassian’s phasers. The three Bajorans didn’t wait to see the result, they ran at a full sprint to the room at the end of the corridor, but it was locked.

With Oardoli and Ilwea ready to provide cover fire, Kee pulled the cover off of the door’s keypad and reached inside. Her hands were just small enough to fit deep inside the mechanism. She felt around for a row of three isoliniar rods. When she found it she pulled out the one on the right with her finger tips, moved it to her palm, pulled out the middle one and placed it in the slot on the right. Then straight up from there she found an empty port and reinserted the other rod. The door glided open and no phaser fire erupted from it, so they crept inside.

The room was large and dark. Round with a core of consoles in the center, and, most disturbingly, a ring of biobeds around the perimeter. Before she could see more clearly phaser fire passed over her head and hit the wall behind her. The three of them dove out of sight, Oardoli and Ilwea were pinned down near the door and Kee had taken cover behind the equipment in the center of the room. More phaser blasts came at them from deep in the darkness between the biobeds.

Kee moved on her knees into a position where she could see roughly where it was coming from. She flipped open the scope on her phaser rifle and activated the sensors, peering through it to locate the source. A single Cardassian scientist hid between the beds of his victims, clutching a hand phaser with shaking hands. A twinge of compassion passed across Kee’s mind but she quickly banished it. This was a monster who had been participating in a horrifying experiment, he was worse than the soldiers outside who were trying to shoot them down. Worse, even, than the ones who’d been torturing her. He _should_ be scared.

She breathed evenly as she tracked him in her scope, the last thing she wanted to do was hit one of his victims instead. He leaned out to shoot at them again and the moment she had a clean shot, she squeezed the trigger. A flash of light from her weapon and he dropped to the floor. Before coming out of hiding she scanned the rest of the room and found nothing.

While Oardoli watched the door, Ilwea stepped up to the console and Kee moved to the biobeds. There she found unconscious Bajorans with tubes and medical devices attached all over their bodies. Their eyes were open but unseeing, their facial features were dark and sunken, their skin ashen. Monitors above each bed showed readings that she couldn’t decipher. “Are they alive?” She asked softly as though she might wake them somehow.

Ilwea tapped uselessly at the console. “I can’t tell, it’s locked down.” He began searching through drawers and eventually found a tricorder. As he scanned the person closest to her he shook his head. “Not really.” He said, then began scanning the others. “Their bodies are alive. But their acetylcholine has been almost entirely depleted.” He lowered the tricorder and turned back to her, “They’re completely brain dead.”

Kee wasn’t sure if she was saddened or relieved. If they had still been alive, would they have even been able to recover?

“Can we shut it down?” Oardoli asked with the same tightness in her voice that Kee felt.

Before Ilwea could answer, sounds from the other side of the door told them that the Cardassians were coming for them. Oardoli had secured it, but it was only a matter of time before they overrode the lock. She and Kee prepared for an onslaught while Ilwea inspected the machinery, trying to avoid the dead stare of the bodies.

Kee hefted her phaser rifle and checked the power cell. She was pleased to see that it was still over half full. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Oardoli do the same. They positioned themselves protectively between Ilwea and the door. Suddenly they could hear phaser fire on the other side. They looked at each other and said in unison, “Ren!”

Oardoli moved to release the door. It slid open but she stopped it about half way. Kee crouched low and leaned into the opening with Oardoli doing the same above her. Together with Ren, they created a crossfire with the Cardassians caught in the middle. She recognized one of them as the glinn who’d been her interrogator hours earlier. Kee made sure to kill him first, then shot one soldier after another until, finally, the corridor was clear.

Ren rushed toward them and squeezed through the door before Oardoli closed it. He stopped and looked around at the bodies in stunned silence. “Prophets.” He whispered. He ran his fingers through his hair, finally he found words, “Are they…?”

“No, they’re not alive.” Oardoli told him. “Ilwea’s trying to shut down the life-support.”

“I think I have it.” Ilwea said from his position under the head of one of the beds. Kee could see him pulling on something. When it finally gave way, the panel above the head of the bed winked off and the pieces of equipment attached to the body shut down. He stood up and scanned with the tricorder, then gently closed the eyes of the corpse.

“Show us what you did.” Ren said softly and Kee stepped quietly over to Ilwea’s side.

He bent down and pointed out a loose opticable. “Just pull that and it’ll shut down.”

Kee nodded and moved to another biobed to do the same as he showed Ren and Oardoli the same thing. She bent down, took hold of the cable and pulled. Just like before, as soon as it disengaged, the biobed shut down. She copied Ilwea’s action to close the eyes and made a note to herself to say a prayer to the Prophets for them each later.

The four moved through the room in complete silence, shutting down each of the biobeds. When it was all done they stood together for a moment longer. Finally, Ren spoke, “We need to destroy this place so they don’t just start it up again. Oardoli, do you still have those charges we brought?”

“Yeah.” She said as though he’d just woken her up from some private reverie, then slipped her pack off of her shoulders and dug around in it.

He began looking around for where to place the charges, “I want this entire room incinerated.” He pointed to the console in the center, “Put one there.” Then he pointed out other places around the perimeter, “there, there and there.”

Ilwea and Kee each took one of the charges from Oardoli and the three quickly carried out his orders. After they were done, he led them out into the corridor and back where they had entered. He took one last charge from Oardoli, attached it to the wall and they continued out with their weapons raised.

Once back outside, they searched the surrounding forest and found it empty. Finally, they moved outside of the blast area and took cover down in the canyon. Ren held out his hand for the detonator and Oardoli tossed it to him. “Those lives in there may have been lost in vain, but we’ll keep others from falling victim to the same fate.” He said, oddly contemplative.

When the others had nodded their agreement, he pressed the switch. Instantly they felt the ground heave and a split second later heard the explosion in the distance. After the debris had settled, they climbed back up where they could see the remains of the building. There was nothing but burning rubble with a wide circle around it where the trees and underbrush had been blown back. They watched it smolder for a moment before retreating into the woods. A skimmer would arrive shortly to investigate and they had to be gone long before then.


	3. BAJOR: 9366 (2364, EARTH CALENDAR)

Rain poured down through the trees but Kee barely noticed it. She stopped at an old, mossy tree stump when her legs finally gave out. So she knelt there alone in the mud, tears mixing with the rain that streamed down her face. Dawn gently glowed in the distance. She’d spent the entire night fighting off a sudden attack. The Cardassians had been on top of them so fast, she couldn’t even be sure what had happened in the chaos or how many had survived. She’d fought as hard as she could, but the waves of soldiers just kept coming. Somehow the Cardassians had known exactly how to find them.

Oardoli, she knew, was dead, as well as Walo. She’d seen Tulkish badly wounded, then a Cardassian stood over him and fired point-blank into his chest. Others had been pinned down behind inadequate cover where she couldn’t get to them and she wasn’t sure if they made it out. It was entirely possible that she was alone out here.

Ren had ordered them to retreat and rendezvous at the s-2 location. Kee hesitated, unsure if she wanted to go there at all. A knot sat in the pit of her stomach, what if she got there and there was no one else? Of those she knew were dead it was bad enough, but she couldn’t bear the thought of losing Ren or Joial.

She glanced at her phaser. She’d discharged almost the entire power cell in the futile attempt to defend her cell. Her hands were bruised from fighting Cardassians hand-to-hand. Her ankle ached where she’d twisted it tumbling down an embankment. Fighting against her fear and pain, she pushed herself up off of the ground and continued toward the rendezvous point.

It was fully light by the time she reached her destination. As she approached she didn’t hear any voices to indicate that others had arrived. She urged herself forward, it was still early, maybe others were still out there. Finally, she pushed through the last of the brush and saw one figure, kneeling on the ground with his head bowed down.

Joial looked up when he saw her and relief flooded through her. She rushed to him and threw herself into his arms. He wrapped her in a tight embrace and they knelt there together for long moments. When she felt she had control over her emotions, she pulled back and looked at him. He looked as haggard as she must have. His shoulder was bloodied from a phaser burn. “Didn’t anyone tell you you’re supposed to duck?” She chided him.

He managed a small smile, “Speak for yourself,” He said touching a crusted wound on her forehead, “you’ve got something going on up here.”

She reached up to verify that it had stopped bleeding, “I don’t have a med kit.”

“Neither do I.”

She rested her dirty, bloody hands in her lap and gazed at them for a few seconds. “Any idea if anybody else made it?”

He shook his head. “I saw Jeeta, Ikis, Hep and Eedak go down. I don’t know about anyone else.”

She nodded, Ikis and Hep were two of the others who had joined the Resistance at the same time she did. “Oardoli, Walo and Tulkish, too.”

He sighed, “That leaves nine out there that we don’t know about, including Ren.”

She stood up, “I should be out there trying to find them.”

He stood and held her by the shoulders, “Ren’s orders were clear. We meet here.”

“His orders don’t mean anything if he’s dead.” Panic seeped into her heart at the thought. “Any one of them could be out there right now, dying! Or being hunted down!”

“We can’t do anything about that. The Cardassians will be watching the area for anyone returning for survivors. Neither of us is in any condition to put up enough of a fight.”

She angrily pushed his hands off of her shoulders. She wanted desperately to turn around and go find the others but she couldn’t deny that he was right. If she encountered even one Cardassian soldier in her current condition, she’d have no chance. Finally, the frustration and anger and pain came flooding out. She dropped her head against his chest, sobbing and soon heard that he was weeping too.

* * *

Kee awoke to Joial’s hand gently shaking her shoulder. He’d suggested that she lay down and rest for a few minutes while he kept watch. She hadn’t expected to be able to sleep but was so exhausted that she’d quickly dropped off. When she peered up at him she saw that he had pulled his phaser and was watching for something through the brush. She bolted upright and took out her phaser, pointing it toward the noise.

Suddenly Ilwea and Naren burst through into the clearing. Kee and her uncle immediately lowered their phasers and she breathed a relieved sign. Ilwea looked at the two of them and quickly dropped to his knees. “I have a med kit.” He pulled out a dermal regenerator and began tending to Joial’s shoulder first.

Naren sat down cross-legged next to them and buried his face in his hands. Kee waited and eventually he recited three more names of dead colleagues, “Cidu, Yel and Batirni.” Each one felt like a knife in her heart.

“That leaves Fim, Sonun, Unyush and Ren.” She said, and the more time passed, the less likely any of them would have made it.

Ilwea finished treating Joial’s injuries and moved to Kee. His clothes were covered with blood, a lot of it. Chances were that he’d tried saving somebody but couldn’t and the haunted look in his eyes confirmed it. Which one had it been? Who had bled out in his arms? She pushed the image away.

While Ilwea worked, Naren theorized about what had happened: a new sensor method, a resistance fighter broken during interrogation, a collaborator… There was no way to tell just yet.

When Ilwea finished they sat together in a semicircle. At some point they’d have to decide what to do next if Ren never showed up. But for now they sat together in silence, the heartache and fear hanging around them. The feeling of dread sat heavy in her stomach as though it were a physical thing. She knew they should recite the prayer for the dead, to ask the Prophets to protect their friends in death, but she couldn’t bring herself to say or even think the words. She wondered if this would be the rest of her life. Friendships and loss, love and pain, over and over and over. The thought made her feel numb.

Finally, she raised her eyes to look at the others again. They hadn’t eaten since the previous night and by late afternoon that fact was pressing itself more urgently. None of them had any rations on them, but it was late-fall so there might be something growing wild that they could eat. Kee stood up and volunteered, “I’ll go find something.” But before she could leave they heard noise in the forest.

Ren slipped into the clearing to be greeted by four phasers leveled at his chest, but they immediately dropped them. Of course he would be the last one here. Like Ilwea, his clothes were soaked with blood, there was a cut on the back of his neck and a phaser burn on his hip. He acknowledged the four of them, keeping a tally in his head, no doubt. He set down his pack and wrapped one arm around Kee’s shoulder, pulling her close for a half-embrace. She leaned her head against him but said nothing. No words could express her feelings or, it seemed, his. After a moment he bent down and dug in his pack. “I have rations.” Then handed out four packages.

Ilwea tucked his ration in his pocket and began healing Ren’s wounds with the dermal regenerator that looked to be nearly out of power.

Ren finally spoke again, “I’ve confirmed thirteen fatalities, we’re all that’s left.” That’s what he’d been doing out there all day, covering the battlefield back and forth to check for his people. Five survivors out of eighteen, they’d been cut down to a quarter of their number. Kee suddenly didn’t feel like eating, but she forced herself to anyway. She flexed the unopened ration packet to break up the contents and looked around at the dirty, weary faces knowing that somehow they would heal and rebuild to fight again.

* * *

Since Kee had already caught a little bit of sleep, she leaned against a wide tree and kept watch while the others slept. Ren had insisted that he wouldn’t sleep but soon the fatigue and emotional drain had taken their toll. He’d rested his head on her shoulder and was soon asleep. He’d decided they would rest here until morning, then go to one of their supply caches. Naren had pointed out that if they’d been compromised, none of their hideouts might be safe. But they didn’t have much choice. They needed weapons and supplies if they were even going to survive, much less continue to wage war on the Cardassians.

The forest was quiet except for the sounds of the evening birds calling to each other. Sweet, peaceful sounds, a stark contrast to last night’s horror. Flashes of those events kept coming up in her memory. Her heart ached like it had been ripped apart. Thirteen of her closest friends and comrades gone. People who had been like family to her for almost three years. She fingered her hair that Oardoli had braded only a day ago and watched the others sleep. Ilwea, who had so often tended to her injuries with such compassion. Naren, who she’d spent many, many hours with constructing all sorts of explosive devices. Joial, who’d done his best to fill the emptiness left behind in their home when her father had died. Now in the resistance together, their relationship had grown beyond uncle/niece and into something far deeper than family.

Then there was Ren. Her mentor, her teacher, her hero. She listened to his soft breathing as he slept there against her shoulder and briefly rested her head on his, but quickly straightened back up, she couldn’t afford to fall asleep while keeping watch. She wondered at the burden he must have carried, and the pain that far exceeded hers. She knew he would not waver, he would lead them through this, he would make them strong again so that they could continue defending Bajor. For his sake, she would remain strong, keep going. She would do and be whatever he needed her to. He deserved that much from her. As the last of the light from the setting sun disappeared, overwhelming love for these four people welled up inside of her.

* * *

Ren and Kee stopped to warm their hands at a metal shipping container that had been turned into a bonfire. She looked around at the primitive encampment that had formed under the overpass of a Cardassian high-capacity roadway. Tents and shelters made of scavenged material sat randomly around the gravelly area. Many of these people had been deemed too old or disabled to serve the Cardassian’s purposes and had been left to fend for themselves. Others were perfectly fit, but had managed to remain unnoticed by staying here.

“I haven’t seen you around here before.” A man standing on the other side of the fire said with suspicion.

“We’re looking for Hizag.” Ren said, “Any idea where I could find him?”

The man nodded to the other end of the settlement.

“Thanks.” Ren said and turned away.

Kee followed without hesitation, keeping step at his side. What was left of their cell had done their best to recover, but with only the five of them they didn’t have the resources necessary to carry out any significant actions against the Cardassians. They needed to team up with other cells while they rebuilt their group. Theirs wasn’t the only cell hit. Over the course of two weeks the Cardassians had wiped out or seriously reduced almost all of the Resistance cells in the area. It had been the result of a massive intelligence coordination that the Cardassians had been working on for months. And it worked. The Resistance activity in Joralla had almost completely halted. Hizag was the man who could put them in contact with the other cells.

As they entered the shadow of the overpass a woman hurried up to them. She looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties, definitely part of the latter category that lived here. There was something odd about her earring. It was only a clasp and a cuff linked by two chains with no ornamentation, suggesting that either she had rejected her family or they had rejected her. Ren stopped to let her speak.

“My name is Cadda. I want to join you.” She said, looking Ren directly in the eye.

Ren shook his head and kept walking, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cadda hurried around in front of them so they had to stop. “I can tell from a kellipate away that you’re Resistance. So am I, or, I was. I want to join you.” When Ren didn’t consent she continued, “I was a member of Eru’s cell.”

“Eru was wiped out.” He said flatly.

“Yes!” She urged, “I survived and was taken prisoner. I spent weeks in an interrogation center.” Her voice wavered, “I escaped and came here. I have nowhere to go, I want to be back in the fight!”

Ren regarded her for a long moment. “We’ll be back through here shortly.”

“I’ll be here.” She promised.

As they walked away, Kee protested, “You’re going to let her join us? Just like that? We don’t know anything about her.”

“If she was a member of Eru’s cell, we can trust her.”

“She could be lying!” She argued.

“If we can’t trust each other, we’ve already lost.”

She knew he didn’t believe that. It had likely been a group of collaborators who had enabled the massacres in the first place. The Cardassians held control over their planet through fear and intimidation and the truth was that they already couldn’t trust other Bajorans.

Before she could argue further they reached a shelter that was set apart from the others. A woman sat outside, leisurely knitting but a bulge under her coat implied that she wasn’t just some refugee. “We’re looking for Hizag.” Ren told her.

The woman stood without saying a word and motioned for them to proceed into the shelter. Inside they found an elderly man old enough to have been alive before the occupation seated at a crate that served as a desk. His right arm and both of his legs were missing and he looked impossibly thin, but somehow still conveyed a sense of dignity that Kee immediately respected without really knowing why.

Ren froze as the woman stepped inside and pointed her phaser at the back of his head. “Hands up.” She said, and they both obeyed.

“Don’t worry,” Hizag said, “She’s just very protective.” He held out a slip of paper to Ren who took it. “That’s the information you asked for. The name you’re looking for is Prortu.”

“Thank you.” Ren said, but didn’t turn to leave yet.

“Was there something else?”

“There’s a woman out there,” he gestured out the door, “Says her name is Cadda…”

“A yes, Cadda.” Hizag said with recognition. “What about her?”

“She said she was a member of the Eru cell.”

Hizag waived his one hand in the air, “I don’t know anything about that. But I’ll tell you one thing.” He paused with a pained expression on his lined face, “Around here, there’s no law. The Cardassians mostly stay out of our business, but unfortunately Bajorans commit crimes against other Bajorans. And the people here are some of the most vulnerable.” He paused, the creases in his forehead showing the weight of the people he felt responsible for. “Those crimes include those of the sexual nature. But since Cadda showed up here, I haven’t heard one report of sexual assault. Not one. They say she knocked one of them out cold and threatened the others. They’re all terrified to lay a finger on any of the women here.” He shook his head, “That’s all I can say about her.”

“Thank you, again.” Ren said earnestly, then turned to leave. Once he and Kee were out of the shelter the woman with the phaser sat back down and resumed her knitting.

* * *

Kee and Cadda sat across from each other on either side of a small fire. They’d nestled themselves in an alcove formed by a huge crack where a piece of rock had broken away from the rest of the hillside. The fire didn’t give off much heat, but they didn’t want to risk anything larger that could give away their position.

The plan had originally been for Ren and Kee to meet up with Prortu together, but they didn’t know Cadda well enough yet to take her with them and potentially expose another cell, so Kee had stayed behind with her while Ren went alone. Kee studied her as she picked bits of either dirt or dried blood off of the hilt of her knife. It was definitely a Cardassian knife and if that was blood on it, it was Cardassian blood. With a closer look at her earring, Kee could see that the loops where the ornamentation had once been attached had sharp edges as though they’d been ripped apart. Whatever had happened, it had been done in anger.

“You don’t trust me, do you?” Cadda finally asked.

Kee considered her response, “I don’t trust you.” She confirmed. “But I don’t mistrust you either.”

Cadda nodded, “I can accept that.”

“How did you escape from an interrogation center _alone_ , by the way?” Kee probed.

“I was in the interrogation center until they felt that any information I might have was no longer relevant.” She paused, staring at the knife in her hands. “At that point they took me to the gul’s private office.” Kee was afraid she knew where this story was going. “Over the next few months he raped me every day. The same monster who had tortured me.

“Once he was convinced that I had become sufficiently _submissive_ he began to let his guard down. One day I was able to grab his knife,” she held up the knife, “and killed him, then I cut off his thumb and used it to access computer systems and door locks all over the facility.”

Kee watched her through the firelight. This woman who was not much older than she was had been through the same massacre she had but also torture and rape on top of that and had come out the other side willing, even eager to continue the fight. That must be why she had taken action against the rapists in the encampment. Her earlier misgivings melted away and Kee immediately admired her. Unfortunately, that meant she’d have to admit to Ren that he’d been right about Cadda and she’d been… less right.

At Kee’s silence Cadda changed the subject, “So, how’d you end up in the resistance?”

Most of the rebels she had fought beside had already known her story, she wasn’t even sure if she’d ever been asked before. “Almost three years ago I was arrested for vandalism.”

Cadda’s eyebrows shot up.

“I didn’t do it. But that doesn’t matter anyway, does it?” Kee continued without expecting an answer, “They just grabbed the first four kids they found. We were processed, tried and scheduled to be executed. My uncle had been an informant for Ren’s cell for some time and he convinced them to free us.”

“And they let you join, just like that?”

Kee felt the corner of her mouth creep up, “It took a bit of convincing. What about you?”

“When I was sixteen I started sneaking out of my parents’ house at night to go on raids with Eru.” She shook her head, “Staying up all night, I could barely function during the day. I couldn’t have kept it up for long. My parents got suspicious and caught me sneaking back in one morning. They forbade me to go back to Eru, but I went anyway. They told me if I left don’t bother coming back. So I didn’t.”

Kee wasn’t sure what was worse, losing a parent or being disowned by them. She was about to say so when Ren’s face broke into the firelight. “Look what I found.” He smiled and tossed a piece of kava fruit to each of them.

“Where’d you find this?” Kee asked with surprise.

He sat down to break his open, “You know that abandoned orchard just outside the city? One of the trees is a late-producer, there were still a few pieces of fruit on it.”

Ren’s good mood had to be about more than some fruit, the meeting with Prortu must have gone well. She smiled and broke open her piece, feeling hopeful for the first time in months.


	4. BAJOR: 9367 (2365, EARTH CALENDAR)

Kee shook her hand to keep her grip loose on her phaser. She and Traie had been sent to the eastern side of Joralla near the border to Ilvia to check for any new Cardassian activity there as well as sabotage a few of the sensor towers on their way through. In the week that they’d been zigzagging through the woods they had seen a few patrols, but nothing unusual. They hadn’t really expected otherwise, but it was a practice that had paid off well to watch for new activity in the spring, when the weather warmed up enough for the Cardassians to become more active.

Even with the vulnerability of their situation, Traie had kept the mood light. His odd sense of humor resonated with hers and never failed to make her laugh. In fact, his goal in life seemed to be making her laugh. There were times when he’d made some ridiculous joke and she was the _only_ one laughing, but it was enough for him.

Traie had been with Prortu for less than a year. Her cell, like Ren’s, had been cut down to only a few people. After seeing the relationship between Kee and Traie develop, the two leaders had hesitated to put them together on missions, but ultimately decided to trust them. Besides, she and Traie worked so well together that they made a natural and effective team.

The night they met, they had stayed up talking and laughing until sunrise. Much to the annoyance of the others. Afterward she had felt giddy and lightheaded for weeks. Eventually that feeling faded and a deeper connection remained, she knew that what she felt was real and she would never be complete without him. And that was a dangerous thing. If they were ever captured together, she knew without a doubt that she’d give anything to keep him safe. _Anything._ That terrified her more than anything else ever had.

“Kee!” At his urgent voice, she snapped her head around in the direction he was pointing. She relaxed when she saw that he was showing her a hara cat carrying her kitten in her mouth. “It’s so fuzzy.” He said with a smile.

She smiled back appreciating his sensitive side. He had a soft spot for small, furry animals. Besides, the kitten was certainly fuzzy and extremely adorable. After the mother and kitten had moved away from them they continued their climb up the hill looking for the place where they could rest for the night.

Traie suddenly stopped and bent to pick something up. When he straightened up he presented what he’d found as though it were some prized discovery. It, however, was just a piece of an oddly shaped tree branch. “It’s a chicken!” He said with a grin.

Kee couldn’t contain a giggle. He had a running joke, one of many between the two of them, where he would point out anything that remotely resembled a chicken. If she thought about it, it really wasn’t that funny of a joke, but he managed to make it into the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “Stop it. We’re being serious.”

“Speak for yourself.” He said with the corner of his lip pulled up into what she was sure was a permanent smirk.

She’d have to do her best to avoid encouraging him, at least until they were settled for the night.

At the crest of the hill they saw the rundown cabin that was their goal. Well, not really a “cabin” as much as a one-room shack covered in moss and debris from the trees above, she corrected herself. But it would give them shelter if it rained during the night.

“I’ll take the interior, you check the perimeter.” She suggested. Although he was two years older than her, she had been with the resistance longer so she had seniority on missions. He pulled out a scanner and began a circuit of the area, dropping proximity sensors along the way. She raised her phaser toward the cabin as she approached it, watching for any movement inside.

The door creaked quietly as she pushed it open, but it was empty. The tattered rags somebody in the past had used to cover the windows allowed some light from the setting sun to shine inside, washing the interior with golden light. Kee scanned for sensors or traps and found none. The Cardassians either hadn’t found the place yet, or they didn’t think it was worth their time. Her boots made hollow sounds as she walked across to the far side of the room to pull open the trap door. She shined her flashlight down into the tiny crawlspace. Nothing there either.

Traie came inside and set up a control pad to monitor the sensors he had left around the area. They set down their packs and weapons, suddenly feeling lighter. As Kee stood up Traie took her in his arms and kissed her. She closed her eyes and pressed against him, running her fingers through his close-cropped hair to pull him tighter against her. He responded by pushing her up against the wall and wrapping his hands around her hips. She delighted in his kiss, his warmth against her, the passion that felt like it passed from his body into hers.

He pulled back and looked into her face while brushing his hand lightly against her cheek. His brown eyes seemed so bright and joyful. How he hadn’t been beaten down by the life they led, she could never understand. Her heart beat faster when she made the decision. She wanted to be with him fully tonight, to merge their bodies and their paghs. She leaned forward to touch her lips to his again. He pressed his body against her and she ran her fingernails across the back of his neck.

With a quick movement he knocked her foot out from under her, holding her firmly in his arms he lowered her to the floor. She grabbed the edges of his jacket and pulled him down on top of her, his lips were immediately against hers. She felt his hand, warm even in the chilly evening, slip under her shirt. For a moment, she remembered where they were and looked at the proximity sensor display. Still quiet outside. They pulled off the minimum amount of clothing to accomplish their goal.

* * *

After they had dressed, Kee retrieved a couple of rations from her pack. They slowly ate the insufficient portions and talked and laughed as always. Somehow she’d expected to feel different afterward, to be different, but nothing had changed. No regrets, no self-consciousness, nothing like that. Neither of them had ever been with anyone else, making this an even more significant moment in their lives, but all she could think was how much she enjoyed being next to him.

The light from the sun faded and they sat in near darkness together, the only illumination in the room coming from the sensor control pad. Even in stretches of silence they were completely comfortable in each other’s company. In the morning they would retrieve their sensors outside and continue their mission. But for now, they had only each other.


	5. BAJOR: 9368 (2366, EARTH CALENDAR)

Months after the time Kee had shared with Traie in the cabin, her feelings for him only deepened. During times when their cells operated separately, she ached to be with him again. The possibility of losing him was never far from her mind, but she pushed it away and reminded herself that it was part of the life they had both chosen.

Gam and Alerra had returned from a supply run into the city. They were currently the only two without criminal records, and so the least likely to be ID’d in public. Several of the others were helping them sort the supplies, but Kee kept out of it. Too many people messing around with it just made things harder. Instead she inventoried her own pack, rearranging it several times until it seemed right.

A series of chirps sounded out of the low-range comm unit Ren carried. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen for it again. The comm unit chirped again, the same series. 

“What was their last known location?” Ren asked, he didn’t have to explain who or what he was talking about, they all knew what that sound meant. Someone in the Prortu cell had hit the emergency code, they were in trouble.

“As of yesterday they were about a kelepate north of the fork in the river.” Naren said.

“Grab your gear, let’s go.” Ren ordered.

* * *

When they found the remains of the Prortu cell’s camp, Kee could see that something was very wrong. Supplies were left lying around, someone’s jacket was draped over a tree branch, even a few weapons lay on the ground. Worse, there were burn marks from phaser fire on the trees and in the dirt.

Joial scanned the area with a Cardassian tricorder. “I’m picking up tritonium isotopes over there.” He indicated a direction away from the disheveled camp. Many members of the Resistance had an implant that could leave a trail of tritonium isotopes for others to follow. Kee absentmindedly reached up to gently touch hers where it rested against her collarbone. Joail looked up from his tricorder, “It’s strong enough to have been left within the last hour.”

“Lead the way, Joial,” Ren said. “Cadda, Gam, you two flank him and keep an eye on the woods ahead. Kee and I will take up the rear. Everyone else, keep your eyes open.” She waited for the other six members of the cell to fall in line with the first three. As she followed, Ren stopped her by pressing the back of his hand against her shoulder. In a low voice he said “Don’t do anything stupid.”

She knew he was referring to the incident a few weeks ago when she taken an action that could have gotten all of them killed. They were working to free a group of Bajorian slaves from an intensely cruel glinn and his men. When Ren’s cell had arrived at the slave camp they found a woman with her hands bound to a post in the middle of the clearing being whipped mercilessly. Kee learned later that the woman, a wife and mother, had refused to perform a sex act for one of the soldiers and he was making an example of her. As other Bajorans were forced to watch the scene Kee slipped into the crowd and took up her selected position. She was under orders not to make a move until the other members of the cell were in place.

But Kee could see that the woman wasn’t going to survive much more. She had to do something. Ignoring her orders, she pushed through the crowd and ran to the woman, covering her body with her own. A moment later the whip came down on her back, the sharp tip easily cutting through her clothes and into her flesh. The pain was sudden and intense. The woman cowered in her arms while Kee waited for another blow.

Instead, weapons fire. Her colleagues had reacted to her sudden action. She forced herself to move despite the pain. She tipped her body to one side and kicked the Cardassian in the knee, forcing it to bend in the wrong direction. A moment later she was on her feet. He tried to back up to use the whip on her again but she grabbed it and wrapped it twice around her hand, pulling him back close to her. He lashed out with his free hand, hitting her on the jaw. She turned to lessen the blow and pressed her foot against his injured knee, forcing him to the ground while she coiled the whip around his neck. She pulled the phaser from his belt and used him as a shield while she picked off some of the other soldiers around the perimeter. He regained his balance and lurched backwards, throwing her off her feet. As she fell backward she jerked the whip to the side, snapping his neck. She landed on her back, dirt and pebbles embedding themselves in the fresh wound.

With the soldier no longer in the crossfire, multiple phaser blasts pounded the ground around Kee. She crouched in front of the woman, who’s wrists were still bound to the post. She fired back through the dust, praying that some of her shots would hit their targets.

She heard phaser fire beyond the dust cloud, then silence. When the dust settled the Cardassians were dead and the rebels had managed to survive. No thanks to Kee’s impulsive actions.

Without a dermal regenerator, Kee’s back had to be stitched up to heal on its own, reminding her every day what she had done. Ren had sharply rebuked her for disobeying orders and putting the rest of them at risk. He had never spoken so harshly to her before or since. Knowing the relationship that she and Traie had, and with his cell in danger Ren was worried now that she would do something “stupid” again.

“I won’t,” She muttered, hoping that she had not permanently damaged his trust in her. They followed the rest of the group in silence.

* * *

They tracked the tritonium isotopes until well after nightfall. Cautiously they approached a group of small structures. They had begun seeing these from time to time. A unit with barracks, one with a couple of holding cells and a glinn’s office plus a few multi-use structures surrounded by a fence and automated phaser turrets. They were mobile units the Cardassians could tear down, move then set back up in a day. It gave them a secure base camp but provided almost as much mobility as the rebels had.

“I’d love to get us one of those.” Naren said, though Ren had repeatedly told them that it would be more trouble than its worth.

“I can’t tell for sure if they’re in there, not with passive scans, at least. But I’m reading six heat signatures higher than the spoon heads would give off at this time of night.” Joial said. “It could be them, but if it is, someone’s missing.”

“It could be a trap.” Naren suggested.

“Everything might always be a trap.” Ren reminded them.

“Whether or not those are our people, a full assault would be too risky. They might start executing the prisoners at the first sign of trouble. We need to get in quietly.” Kee said, watching the Cardassians move among the structures.

Ren made a decision, “Kee, Cadda, clean yourselves up, we’re going in.” They both knew what his plan was. The three of them had successfully pulled off this tactic a number of times. And failed at it once, but that was another story. She and Cadda just had to make themselves look more like prostitutes and less like freedom fighters. It was an especially difficult assignment for Cadda given her history. Yet she never resisted fulfilling her role in this plan. Kee admired her for it. At the age of 15, Kee hated the fact that she herself could successfully play the part, and had for over a year now. For that matter she knew Ren intensely disliked using the two of them this way, but the fact was that it worked.

Masking his reluctance with a swagger that threatened to make Kee laugh and blow their cover, Ren walked toward the encampment. With one arm possessively around each of their shoulders he led them down an old animal path that the Cardassians had cleared away for their use. His “girls” both slipped an arm around his waist. The guard at the gate allowed them to approach up to a point. “That’s far enough. What is your business here?”

“The Ferengi say ‘It's always good to know about new customers before they walk in your door.’” Ren said smoothly. “Seems to me you recently set up here. I’m simply a business man offering his services to your glinn and his men. But if he’s not interested…” they started to turn away.

“Wait here.” The guard stepped back a few paces and spoke quietly into his comm unit. Ren gently squeezed their shoulders. The guard returned to the gate and opened it, “Step forward.” Once inside all three were scanned and patted down. The two females more thoroughly than Ren. Probing Cardassian hands groped across her breasts, down her sides to her waist and hips, then along the inside of her thighs. Kee did her best to hide her disgust at being handled in that manner by seeming impatient.

“Hey!” Ren objected, “That’s for paying customers.” But the guards ignored him.

Once cleared, the three of them were led into the building that Joial had indicated as most likely holding the captives. Just inside the outer door the short hallway came to an end at an alcove with doors on the left and right. The door on the right opened as a glinn stepped out, looking the two pseudo prostitutes up and down. He stepped to the side and ushered them into his office, but put a hand in the middle of Ren’s chest to block his way. “I’ll take it from here. Let you know what I think they’re worth.”

“That’s not the way we do business.” Ren protested.

“It is now. Or we can just get rid of you and take them for free.”

Ren backed down, he knew she and Cadda could handle themselves. “If either of them is injured-“

The glinn waved off Ren’s threat “Don’t worry, you’ll be compensated accordingly.”

Kee gave Ren what she hoped was a sufficiently reassuring look before the door closed him off from them. Then she stood side by side with Cadda, a deadly team, as the glinn looked them over. He ran his fingers along the inside of the collar of her shirt, pulling it open. Faster than he could react she grabbed his hand and slammed the heal of her other hand into his elbow, dislocating it. Cadda reacted by wrapping her hands around his neck and pulling his face down to collide with her knee to break his nose. Kee grabbed the phaser off of his belt as Cadda’s elbow connected with the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground, but still conscious.

He looked at the phaser Kee pointed at his head, blood dripping from his nose. “You do understand that if you fire that, alarms will go off, and you won’t leave this room alive.”

Kee shifted her weight to her left foot and kicked his smirking face, his head snapped back, knocking him out. “Yeah, we know.” She called her companion’s name and tossed the phaser to her so Kee could get to work on the glinn’s computer. She pulled a small isoliniar rod out of her shoe and placed it in a receptacle. The rod contained a program written by her uncle giving them access to most Cardassian computer systems, at least until the next set of security updates came out. First she engaged the door lock, then pulled up the security feeds. One camera showed Ren waiting outside the door with a phaser pointed at him, and another showed that the holding cells were filled with six Bajoran rebels that she recognized, relief washed over her when she saw that Traie was there. “That’s them.”

“Now how to get to them.” Cadda said after binding the glinn’s hands. She looked up, “Is that hatch a roof access?”

Kee followed her eyes, then looked back at the computer to pull up a schematic of the campsite. “Yes. And… it looks like there’s another one there in the holding cell module.” She pointed to what looked like a storage room connected to the area with the holding cells.

“How tall are the other structures?”

Kee studied the schematic, following her line of thinking. “None taller than this one. As long as we stay low, nobody should be able to see us unless they’re up on this ridge here.”

“Which is where our people are.”

“Right. Although I bet there’s a camera up there.” She pointed to a tall post on the schematic, then switched back to the security cameras and called up an interface programmed into the isoliniar rod. “I’ll set the cameras on a loop. Then start the phaser turrets on a maintenance cycle. That ought to give us a good 15 minutes.” After she rigged the cameras she lifted Cadda up on her shoulders to reach the hatch in the ceiling. It opened with some effort and she barely managed to keep it from banging against the roof as it opened. After she jumped back down to the floor, Kee initiated the maintenance mode on the phaser turrets and removed the isoliniar rod. Cadda got back on her shoulders and pulled herself up and out of the hatch then leaned back in to lift up Kee.

They moved quickly, keeping as low as possible with their soft-souled shoes padding quietly across the roof. “You’re sure your hack to the security cameras worked, right?” Cadda mumbled, only partly joking.

“We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.” They reached the other end of the structure where the second hatch was located. Kee lifted the door a crack while Cadda peered through. “We’re good.” Then lifted it the rest of the way up and dropped through. Kee waited a second and dropped through too, crouching as she hit the floor. The room was dark, but enough light came through the hatch from the starry sky to see that it was a storage room like they had suspected. As her eyes adjusted, she could see a thin sliver of light coming in under the door. She watched it and finally saw two small shadows move across… a pair of boots. “Hand me the phaser,” She whispered. When Cadda did, she adjusted the setting to the lowest level. Cadda’s face was barely visible in the darkness, but she looked ready. Kee pressed the button to open the door and leveled the phaser at the side of the guard’s head as the door opened.

“This is set low enough not to trip the alarms, but at this range it will cause permanent brain damage.” The guard wisely raised his hands, Kee lifted the strap of a rifle off of his shoulder and Cadda pulled a phaser from his hip. He tried to lunge at her, but Kee made good on her threat and fired the phaser directly against his head. He fell to the floor, essentially brain dead. She finally took a look at the prisoners. “Who’s missing?”

“Dall,” came the response from their leader, Prortu, “they shot him and dumped the body a ways back.”

Kee handed the isoliniar rod to Cadda and she and worked on lowering the force fields. Once she did Kee handed Prortu the hand phaser she carried, keeping the rifle for herself. Prortu handed it to one of her team and checked for another phaser under the console and found one. “Is anyone else with you?”

“Ren’s on the other side of that door with a phaser on him.” Cadda told them. “The rest are on the ridge waiting for us to come out.”

“Alright.” Prortu said, both a confirmation and an order. She, Cadda and Kee moved to the door and raised their phasers.

* * *

Ren was confident in his team members’ ability to handle one Cardassian, but his anxiety increased with every minute that passed. If somehow the glinn had gotten the upper hand… Kee and Cadda were not only two of his best fighters but he cared a great deal for them, he couldn’t lose them.

Both he and the Cardassian guarding him turned as they heard the door behind them open. Two hand phasers were aimed squarely at the guard’s head. Not surprisingly Kee also held a phaser rifle. Ren took the phaser from the guard’s hand and a moment later Kee smashed the butt of the rifle into the guard’s face, knocking him out with one blow. “Miss us?” She said with a smirk.

An urgent voice came over the guard’s comm unit. “Targets! On the ridge!”

With only half of them armed, the rebels moved out of the structure and ran for cover.

* * *

Kee ducked behind a piece of equipment with Traie who was still unarmed. She shot a nearby Cardassian to give him a chance to grab a weapon. He pressed his lips against hers for a quick kiss. “Thanks.” He said as she laid down cover for him.

She saw Ren give the group up on the ridge the signal that they were all out. Several objects were lobbed over the ridge, landing near the two largest structures. Those would be Naren’s homemade grenades. She ducked and covered her head. Three explosions in rapid succession rained down dirt and debris on the base.

With smoke as cover she began firing continuously, pausing only long enough to be sure the phase emitter wouldn’t overload. Three more explosions. By her count they only had two left. As she continued firing she moved toward the entrance, killing or injuring Cardassians along the way. Prortu was already there, laying down cover for anyone coming out. She waited by the gate for more of her colleagues to emerge from the chaos. After the last few hurried by them Prortu said “That’s everybody.” Kee could never quite grasp her ability to keep track of people in the midst of battle.

She fired a few more times back into the base camp and followed her up the path. Together they slipped into the thick underbrush, traveling parallel to the path. Kee bent down and grabbed her pack that she had stashed there earlier, noting that Ren’s and Cadda’s were already gone. She slipped one side onto her shoulder and awkwardly pulled up the other strap, having to work it around her weapon.

Only moments later, they heard Cardassians coming up the path. Prortu and Kee pressed themselves silently against a pair of tree trunks. Kee breathed slowly, keeping perfectly still. She counted four of them. Once they had passed, Prortu caught her eye. Come on. She mouthed with a nod toward the Cardassians.

Kee nodded and followed her leader’s partner as she split off away from the path. There was a shortcut where they could head off the Cardassians, but they’d have to go down into the ravine and cross a stream, then get back up onto the ridge. Sure enough, Prortu approached the edge of the drop-off and started picking her way down. Kee followed, using rocky ledges and trees that grew out sideways for leverage. When they neared the bottom, Prortu went into a controlled slide on the slick leaf litter. Again Kee followed, working to keep control of the descent, and slid to a stop right next to the older woman.

A few more steps and they were at the water’s edge. Kee wasn’t wearing her boots and had been dreading crossing the stream ever since she realized what Prortu planned to do, but she followed obediently, tracking along the creek looking for a place to cross. If it had been earlier in the spring, they’d never have been able to cross without wading in up to their waists, but even in late spring it was deep enough with meltwater runoff to get soaked if they fell in.

They reached a point where the stream was wide and shallow, dotted with dry rocks. Kee watched the ridgeline on either side of the stream while Prortu broke out of the cover of the trees and nearly ran across the tops of the rocks. Once she was across she backed up into the trees on the other side and it was Kee’s turn. She bit her lip, slung her rifle across her back and let out a breath, then dashed across the stream. She missed a few of the exposed rocks and ended up with both feet wet by the time she was back into the safety of the trees.

It took longer to climb back up the side of the ravine, the two women taking turns boosting and lifting each other. Finally, Prortu was back on the upper ledge and reached a hand down to lift Kee up. Without giving her time to catch her breath, she was off again toward the Cardassians. They moved quickly at first, slowing down to move more quietly as they came upon the path. Prortu darted across to the other side only moments before they began hearing the sound of approaching Cardassians.

Prortu motioned to Kee to watch for her signal. Kee nodded, kneeling down in the dirt behind a tree and readied her phaser. When they had reached some predetermined distance, Prortu gave the signal to open fire. They shot the first two, but the others ducked into the treeline for cover. Kee moved around the back side of the tree and shot at the edge of a Cardassian uniform. Phaser fire answered back. She fired again as she moved behind a large rock where she’d have a better line of sight. As soon as she stopped firing, the Cardassian shot back, but she’d already moved around to the other side of the rock. She edged out from behind it, lined up her shot and shot him in the chest.

Kee didn’t hear any other phaser fire anymore. It was difficult to see now that the brightness of the phaser fire had destroyed her night vision, so she waited and listened. There were no sounds of breaking branches, no calls back to base for backup, only complete silence. Prortu, of course, would make no sound alive or dead. As soon as she could see in the darkness again she crept back toward the path, unsure who she’d find alive there. Before she reached the path, though, Prortu appeared out of nowhere. “Are you ok?” She said in hushed tones.

“Yeah.” Kee replied, still blinking the streaks out of her eyes. Without responding, Prortu led them the rest of the way back to the rendezvous point. When they arrived they found the members of the two cells loosely grouped together checking their weapons, tending to minor injuries and wiping soot from Naren’s explosions off of themselves. Kee mumbled some greetings and sat next to Traie on a fallen tree, reaching into her pack to pull out some proper clothing and footwear. He waited to get her attention and said, “You look really nice.”

She pushed him off of the log in mock offence, but laughed anyway.


	6. BAJOR: 9368 (2366, EARTH CALENDAR)

“…Kee, Traie and Cadda take the left flank, Prortu and I will take the right.” Ren finished assigning positions to members of the two cells. “Let’s move.”

Just as they were gathering up their gear, they heard the sound of someone moving through the forest. Everyone was suddenly on high alert, lifting their phasers toward the sound, but it sounded too light-footed to be a Cardassian, they tended to lumber through the forest. Suddenly a middle-aged Bajoran man burst into the small clearing they’d been using as a base for the past few weeks. As soon as he saw them he threw his hands up in surrender and collapsed to his knees, exhausted. How long had he been running through the forest?

“Please! You have to help me!” He managed to say between desperate gasps.

Prortu knelt down next to him, “Help you? How?”

“They’ve taken them… six girls from our town. There’s some kind of facility where we think they went. I can show you.”

“How did you find us?” Ren asked, his suspicion immediately piqued.

“Alerra’s brother is a neighbor of mine. He didn’t know exactly where you were, I had to check two other locations before I found you here.”

“And you say they took some girls?” Even with his suspicions, they couldn’t ignore the possibility that there might be six girls about to be forced into a terrible future.

“Yes, they came and grabbed them yesterday. I hope we’re not too late. Please, you have to help. We don’t know what else to do.”

Ren looked at Prortu, she’d made up her mind already, but they had a mission to complete. If they missed this opportunity to hit the munitions storage facility, they might not get another for a very long time. He considered the man, the desperation on his face. “Alright, Kee and Traie go with him and see what you can do, then meet us at the x-5 rendezvous point in two days. Naren and Ilwea, you take over their positions.” With that he and his counterpart lead the group away from Kee, Traie and the man.

* * *

Kee was surprised at how quickly the man, Breggu, managed to move through the forest. She and Traie had expected to have to slow down to let him keep up. It only took a few hours of winding through the thick trees to reach their destination. The three leaned over the trunk of a fallen tree to peer at a small set of buildings at the bottom of the hill. It looked like an older early-occupation facility. The buildings were arranged in rows on either side of a main isle wide enough for heavy machinery. The fence around it was the typical fencing that was used all over Bajor. Kee studied the windows of the buildings and inside the largest one she could see several Bajoran girls.

She turned and leaned her back against the tree and spoke to Traie, “Do you still have that scrambler?”

“Yeah.” He said pulling it out of his pack, already starting to program it.

“Set the false biosigns about a kelepate that way,” she indicated the far end of the compound. “Then we’ll come in around the back of that larger building.” She turned to Breggu and pressed a small phaser into his hand, “You need to stay here. When we come out with the girls, we’ll need your help to keep them together and calm.”

He nodded his understanding with wide eyes.

Traie focused on his task, keying in the commands needed to program the device. When he finished, it hummed to life and the three Cardassian guards below reacted immediately. Kee waited only a moment before moving toward her point of entry. She could hear Traie close behind. Together they scrambled around where they could climb over the fence unseen. She pulled a pair of inhibitors out of her pack. Traie interlaced his fingers and gave her a boost and she clamped the inhibitors onto the field generator that ran across the top of the fence. The section between the inhibitors winked out then Kee threw her leg over it and jumped down on the other side.

As she readied her phaser and began visually scanning the immediate area, Traie jumped down next to her. When she was satisfied that no one had seen them climb the fence, they flattened their backs against the back wall of the building and began making their way forward.

They shuffled quickly around the corner until they came to a window where they dropped to their knees and crawled past. Kee peeked into the window and saw two Bajoran girls, only a little younger than Kee herself, huddled together. “This is it.” She told Traie as she ducked to the other side of the door. It was locked, of course.

With Traie covering her she bent down and began tapping in commands to exploit a security vulnerability they’d found. It seemed to take so long, but she was sure it was only a couple of minutes before the unlock symbol blinked on. She silently mouthed a countdown before hitting the controls to open the door. Together they swung themselves into the room, locating two Cardassian guards and dispatching them before they could react. Five girls dropped to the floor like all Bajoran children were taught to do. Kee and Traie moved quickly through the room checking for other Cardassians.

When she was sure there were no others she looked again at the girls and re-counted. There were definitely only five. Two of them raised shaking hands to point to a staircase. Traie didn’t wait for Kee to respond, he rushed toward the stairs.

“I’ll meet you back at the entry point.” She called behind him in a hushed voice. Once he’d disappeared she turned back to the girls. “Come on. I need you to stick together and stay right with me. Ok?” When they all nodded she moved back to the door and peeked out. The guards who had gone after the false biosigns were already returning through the front gate and one of them saw the inhibitors she’d left on the fence for their escape. He pointed it out to the others and they began fanning out with their phaser rifles raised looking for the intruders.

Kee waited for them to move out of sight then motioned for the girls to follow her along the sides of the building toward the main gate instead of their entry point. When they were only about half way there, one of the guards spotted them. Without a warning, he began firing. The girls dove for cover behind a piece of equipment with Kee who leaned out around the side to return fire. She slipped her pack off of her back and handed it to one of the girls without looking. “In there you’ll find a couple of hexagonal devices. Grab two of them and hand them to me when I ask.” She whispered.

The firefight had drawn the attention of the two guards who had gone to check out the fence and they stepped around the corner of the large building to begin firing. With nothing to hide behind, the girls ducked down and screamed. Kee took one of the grenades from the girl’s hand. Before she had a chance to activate it, Traie appeared behind her with a girl who’d clearly been sobbing. He fired at the two Cardassians as she activated the grenade. By default they had a ten second countdown. Kee calculated some quick geometry and began counting. At the right moment, she threw the grenade so that it would explode in midair, directly over the heads of their attackers.

They didn’t wait for the debris to settle, under Kee’s cover fire Traie lead the girls to the next hiding point then provided cover for Kee to join them. They moved twice more that way until they arrived at the gate. Kee held out her hand for the second grenade, made her calculations, activated it and chucked it at the last Cardassian, then ushered the girls the rest of the way out of the facility.

Breggu must have been watching their movements from outside the gate because he was waiting for them. One of the girls threw herself into his arms and the others gathered around him.

“We need to get moving.” She told them, “Where is your village?”

“This way.” He said as he led them quickly away.

* * *

The anxiety of the girls was obvious as a couple of skimmers passed over their heads. No doubt to investigate the explosions, but the group was far enough away that they wouldn’t find them now. Kee observed the girl Traie had gone to rescue. She hadn’t said a word, only hung her head and followed the rest. Kee felt like they’d failed her. She reminded herself that they’d done everything they could, and at least she was out of that situation now, but it still didn’t seem enough. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Traie since they left the facility. He had taken the lead with Breggu while Kee took up the rear. With his sensitive nature, she was sure he was brokenhearted. She tried not to think about it, focusing on what they needed to do next. Return the girls and find their way back to the rendezvous point.

It had to be into the early hours of the morning by the time they reached the village but lights were on there and there was a crowd waiting for them. Several adults stepped forward when they saw the group and the girls ran to their parents or guardians. Kee and Traie stood back from the reunions, watching only long enough to make sure all was well, then they turned to leave.

“Wait!” Someone called after them. The pair turned back to see a middle-aged man running toward them. “I’m Alkin. One of the girls is my daughter.” He stopped in front of them, “I can’t tell you how grateful we are for what you’ve done for us.”

Kee waved off the praise, “It’s what we’re here for.”

“Please allow us to show our thanks by providing you a hot meal. I can’t imagine that’s something you get to have very often.”

Kee didn’t want to take from what must have been meager supplies, “That’s not necessary.” She said and they turned again to leave.

“Please.” He pleaded. “Allow us to share a meal with you.”

Kee looked at Traie who seemed reluctant, too, but it was clear Alkin was not going to just let them leave. “Ok. A meal would actually be really nice.” They followed him back into the village.

* * *

Not even half an hour later plates of bread and roasted vegetables were placed in front of Kee and Traie as they sat with the residents of the village at a long community table. She breathed in the smell of the food. It had been a very long time since she’d smelled anything this good. Once others had joined them with their plates, Kee picked up a fork and began eating, savoring every bite. She glanced over at Traie and couldn’t help but smile at him. He seemed to be enjoying it as much as she was.

Family members and friends of the girls kept coming up to them to express their appreciation for what they did. It seemed strange to receive so much praise. It hadn’t even been that difficult of an extraction, she’d certainly had worse. But she genuinely appreciated their gratitude.

When the meal was finished, Kee stood up to leave and another man who’d introduced himself earlier as Alerra’s brother, Mervik, came up to her. “It’s late, you shouldn’t have to travel in the middle of the night.”

Sensing what he was about to offer, Kee shook her head, “Don’t worry about us. We live out there.” Although, traveling at night wasn’t her favorite thing to do. There were wild animals that wouldn’t come near a group of people but were known to attack individuals or pairs.

“Please, stay at my house. We have a room.”

The offer was tempting. She could count the number of times in her life she’d slept in a bed… and a bunk in a holding cell didn’t count. In the end, her kneejerk reaction to always decline was overridden by her fatigue. A trek back to their rendezvous point right now was unappealing at best. Besides, they weren’t expected to be there for another day and a half. She finally smiled at the man, “Ok.”

“Wonderful! Come with me.”

* * *

After having been shown to a room with only a bed and a small table in it, Mervik left them alone to see to his family. For the first time in hours, she and Traie could relax. He sat down on the bed and took her hands in his. “When’s the last time we had this kind of privacy?”

Kee felt herself smile wide, it had been a while. She moved close to him and straddled his lap, making sure to give him a nice view of her cleavage as she sat on his legs. “Whatever shall we do?” Then she leaned forward and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body close to his. Then he released his lips from hers and kissed her jaw and nuzzled her neck unfastening the clasps on her shirt as he went. She slid her hands up his muscular arms and slowly pushed him down onto the bed.

They continued undressing each other, enjoying each step of the process. She looked down at him with her hair falling down around his face, wishing this moment could last forever.

* * *

For the first time ever they’d had the time to enjoy an unhurried encounter together. Kee snuggled against his bare chest, closed her eyes and was soon asleep. The next thing she knew she woke up to light streaming in the window. She faced the edge of the small bed and felt Traie’s body pressed against her back like they were a pair of spoons in a drawer. He reached over to kiss the back of her neck and pulled her tight against him. She sighed completely content. She thought about what it would be like to be able to have a normal life together. To wake next to him like this every morning. To just live their lives without having to scheme and plan and fight and kill. Just live.

“I wish we could live like this.” He said softly in her ear, his thoughts following hers.

“It would be nice.” She allowed herself to indulge in the fantasy for a moment. “But you know we can’t.” She turned over to face him. “We couldn’t live like this while our friends are out there fighting and dying.”

A heaviness crossed his face, “I know.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Someday, when the Cardassians are gone, we’ll have this.” He didn’t include the part that was always on their minds: _if they survived._

She leaned forward to kiss him, “Agreed.”

Reluctantly they dressed and gathered up their gear. When their hosts saw that they were going to leave they insisted on wrapping up some food for them to take with them. Side by side they started back into the forest to rejoin their colleagues.


	7. BAJOR: 9369 (2367, EARTH CALENDAR)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: As I re-read this chapter, I realize that I failed to keep "show don't tell" in mind, especially the beginning. I think I was rushing through it, it was a hard chapter to write. I hope to do a little bit of rewriting, but until then, bear with me. This chapter makes some important changes to Kee's character and future, so hopefully you can forgive a little bit of bad writing and muddle through.

There were no longer Cardassians following Kee and that worried her. She and Traie had been sent to a moon orbiting the fifth planet in the Panora system near the Cardassian border with the Federation. There the Cardassians had set up a small operation to mine the moon’s Tarrozite deposits and had taken a handful of Bajorans there as laborers. Her mission was to liberate the workers and sabotage the mining facility, destroying it if possible.

They had managed to get six people out before being forced to retreat, two others were killed during the escape attempt. That left fourteen still in there. The Cardassians pursuing them had managed to split them up, the laborers had stuck with Traie, but Kee was alone. If they weren’t behind her anymore, all of them might be tracking the others. She began backtracking, watching for any marker Traie might have left for her to follow, but found none.

After searching for nearly an hour she heard someone nearby. She checked her scanner but there was nothing. Whoever they were, they had their biosigns masked. She silently crept closer until she could see three figures crouched together in the brush. They looked relatively clean and well-fed, definitely not any of the laborers. They didn’t appear to have heard her, so she watched. This moon was supposed to be uninhabited except for the mining operation, so where did they come from?

They appeared to be Bajoran, but something seemed just a little bit off. Though she couldn’t quite identify what. Then it dawned on her, their earrings displayed the symbols of their d’jarras which would indicate they were strict adherents to those ways. What jumped out at her was what their d’jarras were, however. A politician, an undertaker and a member of the clergy. Those three would never be found associating with each other. How odd.

No matter how curious the mystery, though, they had nothing to do with her mission. She began to move away but as she stepped on the tree litter she startled a bird that was hiding in the leaves. It flew away suddenly, drawing the attention of the three not-quite-right Bajorans.

“Hey!” One of them shouted.

They’d seen her, but she already had her phaser pointed at them. “Don’t move.” They raised up their weaponless hands. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

One of them spoke, “I’m Laru Idura.” He said, then indicated the male and female with him. “This is Isku Shin and Jopir Foala.”

She didn’t believe that for a second. “Those aren’t your real names. Who are you really?”

“All I can tell you is that I’m Laru, that’s Isku and she’s Jopir.”

“Fine.” Still unconvinced. “Where did you come from? How did you get here?” Before he could lie to her again she heard branches breaking and dry leaves being kicked around, the unmistakable sound of Cardassians bumbling through the forest. “Get down!” She hissed and waved them back where they’d be hidden.

As they watched, one Cardassian led the way. Kee recognized him as the glinn in command of the facility. Behind him were two guards and after them she saw Traie and the Bajorans they had tried to rescue, all with their hands bound behind their backs. Traie looked like he had been beaten, his nose was bleeding and he was limping on one side. At the end of the convoy were two more Cardassian guards. Kee wanted to scream curse words as loud as she could, but instead she just mouthed them, making no sound.

Once it was safe to move out of their hiding position, she started walking away from the strangers. Laru, or whatever his name was, followed her. “I take it they’re supposed to be with you?”

She kept walking away, grasping at anything that would help her form a plan. “It has nothing to do with you. Just go back wherever you came from.” He hurried up behind her and grabbed her arm, she hated that. She yanked it away from his grasp but turned toward him anyway.

“Ok. You’re right, those aren’t our names, but I can’t tell you our real ones.”

“Why not? Are you on some undercover mission, hear to spy on us?” She said it sarcastically, but by the look on his face, she’d hit on exactly what their mission was. “You can’t be serious.”

He sighed, reluctant to tell her more. “We’re not even Bajorans.”

She felt the corner of her mouth creep up, “Yeah, I figured that one out.”

“Ok, but we’re not here to ‘spy’ on you…” He looked at the others, deciding whether to keep going. “The Cardassian Union is like an iron curtain. Nobody knows what’s really going on beyond their borders. We’ve heard rumors about what’s happening on Bajor, but we can’t be sure. We’re here to bring back hard evidence of what’s going on. Evidence that will allow the Federation to put pressure on Cardassia to make changes.”

The earnestness in his face made her want to believe him. Or maybe it was just the kind of thing she wanted to hear. That they weren’t all alone in this. That somebody out there cared that her people were being systematically exterminated. Instead she laughed. “So you’re just so noble and courageous that you would smuggle yourselves into Cardassian territory, pose as Bajorans, risk your lives, just to try to help us?”

He held her gaze, “Yeah.” He said as though the answer were obvious.

The look in his eyes took her back, she wasn’t sure what to say. She changed the subject, “Ok, so how did you end up on this moon?”

Jopir answered, “We managed to outfit an old Boslic shuttle with an Aldean cloaking device and slipped past the border patrols. Unfortunately, because of the modifications, we had some engine trouble and crash landed here.” She explained, “Our shuttle is a couple of kilometers that way.”

“We weren’t supposed to make contact with anyone.” Laru continued. “Just get in, take some holos and get out. But the shuttle’s a lost cause, we’re stranded here.”

She didn’t want to get involved, but felt like she should at least do something to help them. “There’s a landing pad…” she looked around for a moment to get her bearings then pointed toward the north. “That direction. You might be able to find a shuttle there.” Maybe they could keep the Cardassians busy long enough for her to slip into the compound and get her people. She began to walk away, intending to never see those three people again.

Laru called after her, “What are you going to do?”

Kee turned briefly, “I have to get those people out of there.”

“Alone?”

“You have your mission, I have mine. Go observe and report, _I’ll_ save lives.” She said with finality and pushed her way through the forest.

* * *

“Jeff, this isn’t right.” Malinda said as they made their way north toward the landing pad. “I mean, leaving a teenage girl with a gun in a forest on a moon with a bunch of Cardassians? And did you see the other Bajorans? Most of them looked like they’re nearly worked to death. In that mining operation, no doubt. And the only one who didn’t couldn’t be much older than she is and it looked like he’d been beaten up.”

“It’s not our fight, Mal. Our mission is not to get involved.”

“So we’re just gonna walk away?”

“I’m pretty sure she understands more about this situation than we do.”

The landing pad was right where the girl had said it would be. Just before the crash, they’d detected a balleron field surrounding the mine. If she remembered correctly, certain types of mining operations would produce such a field, as well as the fact that it can interfere with intra-atmospheric thrusters. Which was most likely the reason for the distant location of the landing pad. They crept closer to see that there was a large personnel transport parked at the far end and three long-range shuttles in a row next to it. But no Cardassians in sight.

“Where are they?” Sam whispered.

“I don’t know.” Jeff said, “I doubt they’d leave their ships unattended.” Just as he said it, two Cardassians stepped up behind them with phaser rifles pointed at them. The three spies held up their hands in surrender.

While his companions kept their weapons drawn, one of the Cardassians bound Malinda’s hands behind her back, then moved on to the others. After that they were shoved into a single line and marched back the way they came. Jeff tried talking to them, but ended up with a black eye instead. After winding through the forest, the Cardassian who had been leading the other group returned alone. One of the three who had captured them spoke to him, “Glinn, we found these three sneaking around the landing pad.”

“Good work. We’ll put them with the others. It looks like we have more of a rebel infestation here than we thought. Beta squad is tracking the girl now, they expect to have her in custody shortly.”

“Excellent news, sir.” The soldier told his superior. As they began to escort their prisoners along the road, Malinda could hear voices coming across a comm unit.

_“This is unit one, target sighted. She’s on the run. Unit three, she’s coming your way.”_

_“This is unit three, I see her.”_ Sounds, like phaser fire followed the voice.

 _“This is unit one, Three is dead, I’m in pursuit.”_ More phaser fire.

 _“This is unit two, she’s headed in my direction. Keep on her, One.”_ A few seconds later there were sounds of a struggle, then, _“Down! On your knees!... This is unit two, I’ve got her, alive.”_

The glinn spoke into the comm unit on his wrist. “Meet us up ahead and we’ll add her to our collection.”

A short time later two Cardassians broke out of the woods dragging the girl with her hands bound behind her back. The glinn grabbed her upper arm and pulled her into line with his other prisoners. “It seems your little rescue plan has failed, _Bajoran_.” He said the word as though it was an insult. She refused to look at him, turning her face to the side and lifting her chin high instead. He grabbed her jaw and forced her to face him, this time she held his gaze. “Such a pathetic little thing.” Then he let go of her and lead the group away.

* * *

By the time they reached the facility it seemed like they’d walked at least five kilometers. It was almost dark already. Each time Malinda tried talking to the girl, it was met with a jab in the back with a rifle by one of their captors. She did manage to find out her name was “Kee” but not much more than that. Up ahead, she could see some kind of low building. Off to the side of it was a rectangular fenced area. The fence was at least four meters tall with a walkway on top, around the perimeter where two Cardassian guards walked, their phasers aimed down into the enclosure which was split into two sections by a length of fence. The prisoners they’d seen earlier were on one side, and she guessed who was going to be put in the other side.

One at a time, they were unshackled, thumb-scanned and shoved inside. Kee was first, and she quickly went over to the fence dividing the two halves. The teenage boy was on the other side, they pressed their hands together on either side of the fence and spoke quietly. Once they were all inside, the guards noticed the two talking and shouted, “Silence!” The two young Bajorans raised their hands and backed away as though they had expected it.

* * *

Kee was relieved Traie and the others were alive. One of the workers must have been some kind of scientist or engineer before he was abducted to perform menial labor in the mine because they had a plan to turn the balleron field to their advantage. If they could create a certain type of EM pulse at the correct frequency, the balleron field would amplify the effect of the pulse and knock out all electronic devices, namely phasers and forcefields, within an indefinite range. However, they didn’t have the means or ability to carry out the plan. Fortunately, she had inadvertently brought what appeared to be a Starfleet engineer with her.

After her exchange with Traie was cut short she walked casually away. As she had observed the Humans on the long walk back to the facility she had guessed that Laru was their leader, Jopir was some sort of security or tactical officer and Isku was an engineer. She walked over to the engineer, watching the guard on top of the fence-walk. “What would you need in order to create a damped sinewave pulse at 46.29 MHz?” She said softly.

He stood in silence for long moments, finally saying, “I’d need something capable of transmitting a signal. Like a beacon or a communicator.”

“Got it.” She said and walked away. Somehow she would need to get one of the Cardassians to come close enough for her to pick the comm unit off of his wrist without him or the others noticing. There was a chance that cursing and insulting one of them would provoke him into coming in, but she’d probably end up beaten for the trouble. Still, it was one of only a few ways she could get into such close physical contact. The other option wouldn’t work in this situation, they’d see right through any sexual suggestions. Kee sat down on the ground and leaned her back against the fence to think through how to carry out her plan without getting herself shot.

The guards on the fence-walk watched Laru as he sat down near her. After they looked away he said quietly, “So, you have a plan?”

“Working on it.” She said, barely moving her lips.

“Would you like to fill me in?”

“Not really, no.”

“If you want Isku’s help, I’ll need to know what you’re planning.”

She avoided turning to look directly at him or the guards would notice them talking. “Fine.” She sighed quietly. “I need him to trigger an EM pulse that will interact with the balleron field disable the Cardassian’s phasers and forcefields.”

“And then?”

She looked sideways at him with raised eyebrows, “And then we see how good you and your people are at hand to hand combat.” She said slowly.

Kee couldn’t see his face, at least he didn’t object, but finally said, “And how do you plan to get your hands on something that would be capable of emitting an EM pulse?”

“I’m still working on that.” A possibility occurred to her. If she could coax one of the Humans into an argument, and a mock physical fight, the Cardassians might come in to break it up. On the other hand, they might just leave their prisoners to duke it out. It was worth a try, though, and better than intentionally getting beaten by a Cardassian. She stood up to begin the performance, but a bright light suddenly lit up the other half of the enclosure. The glinn walked out of the facility’s main door, carrying a padd. _Not good._ He walked over to the gate and spoke to Traie. “Aacam Traie,” he began.

“No, no, no.” She whispered and moved closer to the divider between the two sections. Her stomach twisted into a knot.

“It is my duty to inform you that your trial has been scheduled for tomorrow, 21 hours from now. You will be convicted by a Cardassian court on 19 counts of murder, 23 counts of suspected murder and 15 terrorist acts.”

Traie stood alone, blocking the bright light with his hand, he looked over at her. Her hands were pressed against the fence as though she could somehow reach him. Her heart pounded harder than she could have imagined. His eyes that she had so many times looked into seemed to communicate so many things to her in that moment. His love. His courage. And his absolute commitment to their cause, regardless of what he knew would come next.

The glinn continued, “Your sentence is to be carried out immediately. Do you have anything to say to the Cardassian people?” When he didn’t reply, two guards opened the gate and pulled him roughly out. 

Kee followed along the fence and watched helplessly as they forced him to kneel on the ground, facing her. Tears flowed into her eyes, blurring her vision and she blinked them away, keeping eye contact with him as long as possible. He mouthed _I love you_ as one of the Cardassians pointed a phaser rifle at his chest. It was all happening too fast. Without hesitation he fired. Traie’s body tensed then fell to the ground.

Kee felt herself scream, but could hear nothing, could see nothing but the flash of the phaser beam burned into her eyes. Her rage finally found words in the form of Cardassian epithets and the worst insults she could scream at them. Some of them hit home with the glinn and she pressed further, insulting his family and his parentage. That did it.

He marched into the enclosure and slammed the butt of his phaser rifle into her stomach. She doubled over in pain that didn’t begin to equal her grief. Then he struck her across the side of her mouth with the same weapon, knocking her to her knees.

She was vaguely aware of Jopir rushing in to help her, but she was struck down promptly.

A moment later she felt the glinn’s hand close around her throat. He lifted her up off of the ground, holding her only with the one hand and squeezing his fingers to cut off her air supply. She wrapped her hands around his arm to take some of the pressure off, a tiny part of her mind remembering to place one hand on top of the comm unit on his wrist. He brought her close to his face, “Was there something you wanted to say to me?”

Kee couldn’t speak but she managed to move her head slightly to each side.

“Good.” He said and threw her down onto the ground gasping for breath.

She sobbed there on her hands and knees wishing the ground would swallow her up at that moment. Her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears as they dragged his body away to be disposed of. That sound would echo in her nightmares for the rest of her life.

Soon they would come for her, too, and at that moment she wanted nothing more than to just let them kill her. She could never be whole again. She could hardly breathe. When she opened her eyes she saw her tears leaving wet circles in the dirt along with drops of blood from her lip. Her body shook with pain and rage.

As she slowly became aware of the world around her she remembered the 20 Bajoran laborers counting on her. They would certainly die without her. Every one of them, and many more who would be brought in to replace them. She was their only hope now. Kee swallowed hard and fought to calm her breathing. She wrapped up her grief and pushed it into a corner in her mind. A dark, black, horrifying corner where she put all of her pain. Finally, she pushed herself off of the ground feeling hollow and empty, making sure to conceal the comm unit in her palm.

Working to pull herself together, she straightened up and walked over to the engineer. She covertly passed the comm unit into his hand and continued over to the stretch of fence farthest away from what had just taken place. Pressing her forehead against the fence, she laced her fingers through the openings and continued pushing the anguish away so she could complete her mission.

Leru approached her cautiously. She had felt his eyes on her up until that point. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” He said as though he could think of nothing anything else to say.

Kee didn’t trust herself to speak for a several minutes, when she finally did she said simply, “We both knew the risks.”

“That doesn’t make it easier, though.”

No, it didn’t, but she couldn’t say anything else, couldn’t grieve for him, not yet, she had to concentrate on the mission. Only one thing mattered now, the mission. “Does your engineer know how long it will take him to make the modifications?”

“Not long. But he says that he’ll need a piece of insulating material. Like a small piece of this fencing. About the size of a fingertip.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” She pushed herself away from the fence and moved over to the span shared with the other section to ask if anyone there could manage to obtain the requested item.

* * *

Jeff watched the Bajoran girl, Kee, as she quietly communicated with the prisoners on the other side of the fence. The intensity of her pain made it clear that the boy was not just her partner, she must have loved him deeply. Even more than that, the fact that she’d been able to pull herself back together, that it hadn’t broken her, suggested that she was no stranger to loss and grief. Not to mention accepting imprisonment and physical assault as though they were part of her every-day life. _Maybe they are._ The thought made him feel sick and even more determined to do what he could to end this for them.

At this point, she showed almost no evidence of what had occurred other than a bloodied lip, her emotions packed down tight. Regardless of the boy’s alleged crimes, the injustice angered him. That an execution would be carried out _before_ the trial was inconceivable, even in those cultures where the accused was presumed guilty until proven innocent.

With their thumbs scanned, it wouldn’t take long for the Cardassians to realize that he and the others were not Bajoran, he guessed they would either be held as prisoners of war or executed outright. Either way, despite her loss, she had kept the wherewithal to grab the communicator off of the Cardassian soldier’s uniform without anyone realizing it. For providing a means of escape, they owed her.

Some movement behind her in the other section caught his eye. One of the other Bajorans passed something to her through the fence. Jeff glanced up at the guards walking around the top of the fence, none of them had seen it. But his hope crashed down as a familiar scenario began taking shape. A bright light shined on her from overhead, and the lead Cardassian came back out, carrying a padd. Kee turned away and placed the object in her mouth to hide it. The Cardassian began just as he had before, “Norvish Keedra. Your trial has been scheduled for tomorrow, 22 hours from now. You will be convicted by a Cardassian court on 21 counts of murder, 28 counts of suspected murder and 16 terrorist acts. Your sentence is to be carried out immediately. Do you have anything to say to the Cardassian people?”

When she said nothing, two soldiers entered and approached her. Before they could lay their hands on her she stepped up to where Sam stood, grabbed the back of his neck to pull him close and kissed him. Sam seemed as startled as he was. When the Cardassians pulled her away, she looked meaningfully into his eyes and some kind of understanding passed between them. As they led her out of the cell Sam turned away, Jeff was about to ask what that was about when he pulled the piece of fence material out of his mouth and shrugged.

“How fast can you get that thing finished up?” He whispered.

“One sec.”

Just as before, they forced her to her knees.

“We’re out of time, Sam!”

A Cardassian moved in front of her and pointed his phaser at her chest.

“Got it!” Sam said, activating the device.

There was no sound, no burst of light, no indication that anything had happened except that the lights winked off and the executioner’s phaser didn’t fire. With almost no light he heard, rather than saw Kee suddenly move into action. The Cardassians standing on the fence jumped down into the enclosure. Mal and Sam took them on while Jeff rushed through the unlocked gate to help the girl. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light from an adjacent moon he saw only one figure still standing with four Cardassians lying either dead or unconscious at her feet, a bloody knife in her hand. She motioned the other Bajorans over to her. “Check them, any that are alive, tie them up and wait for me.” Without further comment she turned and walked toward the facility as though she would march straight inside.

Jeff ran to catch up and grabbed her arm to stop her.

She spun around so fast, he thought she might attack him with the knife, but when she spoke, her voice was completely even, “Take your hand off of me.”

Without thinking, he let go of her arm but didn’t back down. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I _think_ I’m going in there to rescue the rest of my people.”

“You can’t do it alone!”

Her eyes narrowed, “Watch me.” She turned away but he went around and stepped in front of her.

“Wait.”

“Look. You and your people are free now. Take one of those shuttles and go.”

“We can’t let you go in there alone.”

“You can’t ‘let me’? This is my job. This is what I do.”

“How many Cardassians are in there?”

“Eleven.” She said without flinching.

“You can’t take on eleven enemy soldiers by yourself!”

“I’ve had worse!” She continued before he could respond, “This isn’t your fight. Go to Bajor, take your pictures and _if_ you make it back home you can go off and” she shook her head trying to find the words to use, “explore something.”

“No. We’re in this with you now. You want to save those people? You’ll have a lot better chance of doing that with our help.”

She looked back at the compound, seeming to calculate her chances of success alone versus with help. “Fine. But this is _my_ mission.”

“You’re in charge.” He agreed.

When the rest of his landing party joined them, she briefed them. “There are seventeen Cardassians stationed here. We’ve already taken care of six, that leaves only eleven inside, three of which are probably a medic and two techs.” She said, sounding far more professional than her age would suggest. “We can expect a supply ship to land somewhere around five hours from now. We need to get these people to the transport ship and out of the system before then.” She walked to where she could see down the side of the building. “I see a control pad still functioning on the side of the building. The range of the pulse must be somewhere between here and there. We can assume most of the interior is functional.”

“What about weapons?” Mal asked.

“I memorized the layout of the building before we came here, I know where the weapons locker is located, but we’ll have to deal with the security system first, assuming it’s still functional.” She began leading them to the front entrance, which was completely dark. “They probably know that there’s been some kind of malfunction out here. We need to get inside before one of the techs comes out to check.” She began trying to pull the doors apart. Between the four of them, they were able to pull the doors open enough to slip in.

* * *

Kee lead them down a short, dark corridor and into a side alcove to wait, pressing her back against the wall. She took out the knife she had taken from one of the soldiers outside, positioning it so that the blade stuck out the outside edge of her hand. A few moments later she heard footsteps coming toward them. Between the long shadow that was cast from the lighted part of the corridor and the sound of his footsteps she gauged the Cardassian’s height and distance. When he seemed to be just at the edge of the corner where she stood, she swung the knife up and out, sinking it deep into his neck. Then she pulled it across to cut through his trachea, preventing him from crying out. As he fell, she grabbed the edge of his armor and pulled him inside their hiding place, blood already pooling at her feet. If the Prophets were keeping a list, here was one more for them to add.

This Cardassian only carried a hand phaser, she pulled it off of his belt and tossed it to Laru. “You wanted a weapon.” She shrugged, then led them a little farther down the corridor where she knew there would be an access panel in the ceiling. She had one of the Humans lift her up into the opening and left them to stand guard with the one phaser. From there she could crawl across and gain access to the security office, cross connecting some key systems as she went in order to avoid tripping any alarms.

Once she had done so, she slipped down out of the ceiling into the secondary area of the security office. The other tech sat at the desk with his back to her, running diagnostics on the front entrance system. She snuck up behind him, but sensing that there was someone there, he turned and stood up out of his chair. She bent down and lunged at him below his center of gravity, knocking him to the floor. With a practiced movement she rolled back onto her feet. As he lifted himself off of the floor, she slammed her knee into his gut in a weak spot just under his armor. He shuffled back but kept his footing. She spun around for momentum, driving her heel into the side of his face. He fell to the floor motionless, his head laying at an odd angle.

She retrieved the stumpy isoliniar rod from her shoe and plugged it into the interface.

* * *

Malinda waited with the others. This whole situation didn’t feel right. What kind of circumstances would lead to two teenagers being sent to rescue two dozen people? The only answer she could come up with was the same circumstances that had led to the lists of those teenagers’ crimes and the subsequent execution of one of them. One thing was certain, though, this girl knew what she was doing. In another time and place, she’d make a great addition to her team. She had been expecting her to emerge from the access way she had lifted her into, so she’d nearly shot her when she hurried down the corridor. She waved for them to follow her and led them back to the security office where she sat down behind a desk.

“I’ve disabled the security feeds and remote distress beacon. You can grab some phasers in there.” She pointed to an open door behind her.

After retrieving a rifle from the weapon’s locker Malinda leaned over Kee’s shoulder to look at the console. She appeared to have full access to the system. “How did you gain access so quickly?”

The corner of her mouth crept into a lopsided smile as she pointed to a small, colored cylinder sticking out of the console. “That rod contains a program that we use to exploit security holes in the Cardassians’ operating system.” She indicated some alien characters on the display that she couldn’t read. “There are some areas we don’t have access to, but it’ll get us around most of the system.”

She tapped a few controls and brought up a diagram of the facility as the others gathered around behind her. The place was almost entirely one level, built around a huge pit which appeared to go down into the ground at least five times the height of the main building. The part of the building that was over the pit also extended upward two or three levels. “The workers will be down here.”

“At this time of night?” Jeff asked.

She looked up at him, a mixture of anger and compassion on her face, “They work them twenty hours at a time, regardless of the time of day.” Turning back to the console, she moved the diagram around on the display in three dimensions to indicate eight yellow dots on two levels below ground but above the workers. “These are the overseers, here. They’re well-armed and may start firing down at the workers at the first sign of trouble.” She pointed out the main level, “There are no access points on the ground level, only on the two guard levels and at the bottom of the pit.”

Malinda pointed to a structure at the very top above the pit. “What are these?”

“Those look like maintenance walkways. Accessed via ladder on the ground level. But there’s no cover up there.”

“If three of us could get up there and create a crossfire, we may be able to take them all out before they even know what hit them.”

Kee thought about it for a few moments, “We’d be vulnerable but we’d have the element of surprise.” She agreed. “Hey, Engineer,” She said to Sam, “you’re capable of bypassing a basic locking mechanism, I assume?”

“I think I can handle it.” He said.

“Then you can head down to the workers’ level. Wait for our signal and get those people out.” She pointed to the weapons locker again, “Somewhere in there should be some comm units.” She told her as she closed down the diagram of the compound and began working on something else.

When Malinda returned with four comm units, Sam was leaning over her shoulder, studying what she was doing. “Why are you accessing the power core?”

“I’m setting it to overload. If I leave the facility intact, they’ll just bring in another shipment of workers. This way if they want to continue mining here, they’ll at least have to start over.” She finished what she was doing, retrieved the rod with her computer program and stood up, “We have about 20 minutes to get this done, then it’ll blow. Let’s move.”

While Sam split off in a different direction to release the workers, the rest of them climbed the access ladder to the catwalks and took up positions equidistant around the perimeter of the pit. The grating they walked on threatened to make noise under their boots and massive ducts almost a meter in diameter came up from below the catwalks and joined together in the center before leading up to the roof. Those ducts would make targeting much more difficult. When they were all in position, the girl’s hushed voice came over the comm, “How’s the lock coming?”

 _“Almost there.”_ Sam whispered, _“It’s unlocked, I’m ready when you are.”_

Kee raised her phaser rifle to her cheek, tracking the movements of the Cardassians within her site. Malinda watched with fascination. She couldn’t detect a trace of apprehension or fear, only the cold focus of duty. With a slight movement of her arm she whispered into the comm unit again. “Now!”

Without having had a chance to use this weapon before, it took Malinda a few shots to hit her first target. By then, the second had moved out of her range. She followed around the circumference, but still couldn’t make the shot.

Jeff was shooting at the levels below him and Kee had already dispatched her two targets and was tracking Malinda’s second one. When she couldn’t manage to find a position either she climbed over the railing and onto one of the ducts, hurrying up the slight incline to where she had a line of sight to the Cardassian. When she was satisfied with her position, she crouched down on one knee and fired her phaser at him. He returned fire, but not at her, he hit the underside of the duct, destabilizing it.

Kee stood up and looked above her for a handhold. She looped the strap of her phaser across her shoulder and jumped as the duct began to give way below her, catching an overhead beam and using it to swing across to the next duct. As she landed she flipped over onto her stomach and fired back, finally hitting the Cardassian who seemed as astonished as Malinda.

When Malinda looked down into the pit she saw that the workers had been evacuated as planned. She offered her hand to help Kee back over the railing, she rejected it, swinging her legs up and over easily. “Nice shooting.” She said.

“Thanks.” She said, still breathing hard.

“Not afraid of heights, eh?”

She almost laughed, “Terrified.” She said, climbing down the stairs after Jeff.

When they got back down to the main level, Sam was already leading the workers outside. One of the workers stopped and grabbed Kee by the shoulders, on the edge of panic, “My wife! We have to get her!”

Kee’s attention immediately focused on him, “Do you know where she is?”

“They took her to the infirmary.”

“Stay here, I’ll find her.” She said. Malinda followed close as they wound their way through a few short corridors. She slowed as they approached some double doors, tapped a control and whipped around into the doorway. She immediately pointed her weapon at the single Cardassian in the room who was standing at a control panel. “Hands up, back away.” She ordered.

A woman lying on a bio bed with instruments around her called out to them, “He’s going to abort my baby!”

The Cardassian held up his hands innocently, “I’m just trying to help her. This is no place for a pregnant woman.”

By the look on Kee’s face, she could see that she didn’t intend to let him live. But before she could stop her, she fired her phaser directly into his chest three times. Together they helped the woman down and brought her out to be reunited with her husband.

Sam was waiting at the exit, “Come on, we’ve only got about five more minutes to get far enough away from this place!”

The workers were already being hurried away and the rest of them rushed to catch up. Almost exactly five minutes later they were far enough away that the blast was only a rush of hot air carrying bits of ash.

Jeff waited for Kee and Malinda to catch up to him. “So what are you going to do next?”

“There’s an m-class planet not far from here.” She said. “It’s in disputed space, but close enough to the Federation border that they should be safe there. They’ll be able to salvage enough from the transport vessel to make a home for themselves. At least for the time being.”

* * *

As they neared the landing pad, they instructed the workers to stay put while Jeff, his two teammates and Kee surrounded the pad. Kee had told him there would most likely be two Cardassians stationed there to guard the ships and, sure enough, he saw two soldiers standing watch. They shifted anxiously. Surely they’d heard the explosion.

Kee’s voice came quietly over the comm. “Jopir, take the one on the left, I’ll take right.” Without waiting for confirmation she counted down from three and two phaser blast came out of nowhere to strike down both of the Cardassians. Then the four of them moved in to verify that there were no more Cardassians hiding anywhere.

Jeff approached Kee as she gently ushered the workers into the transport. “I’m sure you could program the autopilot to go to that planet so you wouldn’t have to take them there personally.”

“Oh yeah? Why would I do that?” She said without looking at him.

“You could come with us to Bajor. We could use a guide.”

Kee laughed. “Trust me. Just get to Bajor and you won’t need anybody to show you around. You’ll find plenty of what you’re looking for.”

He tried again, “But then you could come back with us to Federation space to present our evidence to the Federation Council personally.”

Kee shook her head. “What you’ll find will speak for itself. I have to go home to continue the fight. No matter what the cost.”

He sighed, giving up. “All right. I wish there was more we could do.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do. _If_ you actually survive and make it back to present your findings to the Federation Council, and _if_ they decide change their policy regarding the conflict on Bajor, and _if_ it actually makes a difference, you will have done a great thing for my people.” That was a lot of ifs. With the last of the workers onboard she entered and stood at the doorway for a moment. “Just make sure you go straight to Bajor, don’t go to Terok Nor. That place is a death trap.” With that she pressed the key to close the hatch.

“Will do.” He said to the closed door.


	8. BAJOR: 9369 (2367, EARTH CALENDAR)

Kee pulled her coat tighter around her neck to try and conserve the little bit of body heat she still retained. Her feet were nearly numb, the icy ground she stood on had drawn out any heat they had long ago. It had snowed a few days earlier, then partly melted making huge mud puddles in the bare, stripped ground. Now today the temperature had dropped back below freezing and the mud iced up.

A few people ambled about aimlessly with their coats tight around their necks too. She glanced around again at the rows of temporary shelters and remains of old buildings that had partly fallen down. At the dwindling line of people in the distance waiting for food and the tall, grey fence that ran along behind all of it. She’d spent the first eleven years of her life here, but somehow the place seemed smaller, the fence less menacing, the Cardassian presence less terrifying. But the Bajorans also seemed less hopeful. She understood how they felt. When Ren had told her about her latest mission, a chill had sunk deep into her bones.

“Two hours late. He’s probably been arrested.” Gam said nervously, interrupting her thoughts. He’d only been with the Resistance for a short time, even though he was at least twice her age he was a lot less experienced.

It was entirely possible that their contact had been taken into custody. If that were the case, they were all as good as dead anyway.

“They could be interrogating him right now.” Gam insisted.

“We have another half hour before we have to be out of here.” The Cardassians would close the gates in half an hour, after which travel outside of the refugee camp was strictly prohibited even with their forged paperwork. Kee watched the people going by for familiar faces. Every minute they were there she risked being recognized. But this mission was more important than their two lives, and they would give their contact every possible chance to make it happen, besides, no one seemed willing to make eye contact anyway.

“There. Green scarf.” She said quietly, spotting their contact. They began walking toward him. Without making eye contact or speaking they passed, slightly bumping into each other. She felt an isoliniar rod drop into her pocket and kept walking, resisting the urge to reach in and grab it. The information that rod contained, if it turned out to be genuine, could have grave consequences if the Cardassians were able to reacquire it.

They turned a corner toward the gate to see it already shut, then turned back quickly to avoid calling attention to themselves.

“What now?” Gam whispered.

Kee tried to think through their options. With what was now in her pocket they couldn’t risk being caught trying to sneak out over or under the fence. They were stuck inside for the night. But that created its own risks. She had learned at a very young age never to be out after curfew. Her brothers had convinced her to sneak out of the house with them one night. As they hid in the shadows of the alley way they’d seen a man hurrying back to his home a few minutes later than curfew allowed. A couple of Cardassian patrols stopped him. They harassed him, eventually becoming violent. They beat him to death while the three children watched from their hiding place, too scared to move, then left his body in the street for people to find the next morning as an example.

Glinn Conalo ran this place with efficiency and brutality that rivaled some of the worst on the planet. The people here were so scared, there weren’t many of them who would be willing to risk putting up two resistance fighters even for one night. She sighed, choosing the only option that might get them out of this alive and with the isoliniar rod safe. “Follow me.”

They walked quickly past the shelters through the refugee camp. Eventually they reached the part of the camp where some rough houses had been built. Each one identical: a common living area with only an antiquated wood-burning stove in it, an equally antiquated restroom and two bedrooms. Almost all of them had two to four families living together inside. But at least there was an inside. So many others in the temporary shelters didn’t even have that much protection from the elements.

Reaching the home that she recognized only by its distance from the crossroad, not any distinguishing markings it had, she stopped. “Wait here.” She told Gam and crossed the street toward the house. The steps up to the door flexed as she put her weight on them as though they were about to break. She put her feet down toward the edge where the wood would have more support under it. Reaching the top she knocked on the door. After a moment the door opened just enough for woman’s face to appear, she recognized her as one of their housemates, but wasn’t sure if the woman recognized her. When she said nothing, Kee asked, “Is my mother here?”

Without answering, the woman closed the door. She could hear a muffled voice calling her mother’s name, “Jora.” She glanced back at Gam and a minute later the door opened to reveal Kee’s mother who grabbed the front of her coat, pulled her inside and slammed the door. Her mother hugged her tightly. When she let go she held onto her hands, oddly touching each of Kee’s fingers. “Do you want to count my toes too?” She said it sarcastically but in reality she knew of many people who had lost much more than fingers or toes.

“Keedra, what are you doing here?” Her mother said, not as a rebuke or criticism, but because it had been over five years since she had left. Or rather, been taken away. In that time, she had avoided any communication other than a single short message to let them know that she was alive after having been rescued by the resistance.

“They closed the gates early, we need somewhere to stay for the night.”

“We?”

“Just me and a colleague.” She said, using the common euphemism rebels used for each other.

“Well, bring him inside!”

Kee leaned back out the door and waved for Gam to come in.

Her mother turned away. “Let me get you some cups of hot water to warm you up.” She said graciously as though she were hosting guests at a dinner party.

Finally, Kee looked around the room. There were at least a dozen people sitting around the common room, most of them she knew, some must have moved in after she’d left. The odd thing that caught her attention was that everyone was sitting on the floor. The place had never been lavishly furnished, a few mismatched wooden chairs, a bench and a table. But now even those were gone. “What happened to the furniture?” She said softly.

She had meant the question for her mother, but someone else answered. “After the resistance attack last month, the spoon heads cut off the power to the entire camp. We had to break up the furniture and burn it to keep warm.”

Kee simply nodded, unable to say anything else. She shouldn’t feel guilty. The Cardassians blamed the resistance every time they reduced the people’s rations or further restricted what little freedom they had or any other such retaliation. Too many of their people fell for it and resented the resistance. No, what she felt was more like failure than guilt. These were the very people they were trying to save. Gam opened the door and she moved away to give him room to enter just as her mother was bringing them two dented metal mugs full of hot water.

“I have to attend Harlo, I’ll come back as soon as I can.” Her mother said and hurried to the back of the house into one of the bedrooms. She had a compassionate nature that lead her to act as a caregiver to anyone who was sick or injured. Not that there was much she could do without actual medical supplies, but she understood herbal medicine and did what she could to make them more comfortable.

With her mother gone Kee motioned Gam toward an empty spot in the room. She moved carefully to avoid letting her coat hang open and expose the phaser tucked in her belt. Her presence there was worrisome enough without highlighting the fact that she was armed. After they sat down they warmed their hands on the mugs and breathed in the steam. For the first time since the handoff she reached into her pocket and pulled out the isoliniar rod. She palmed it and handed it off to Gam. They spoke quietly, making plans and contingency plans for the morning.

Judging by the position of the setting sun it was nearly curfew when Kee heard footsteps outside. When the young man entered she felt her stomach twist. Her brother, Edda, froze when he saw her. Their other brother, Kersht, had been killed a few months ago during another skirmish between the Cardassians and one of the resistance cells in the area. He had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her brothers being twins, for a moment she hadn’t realized which one was standing there, then she remembered. Edda glared at her with a loathing she’d never seen on his face before. He blamed the resistance for Kersht’s death, she was sure of it. Saying nothing, he finally stomped to the back of the house leaving Kee fighting tears.

“He’s your brother, isn’t he?” Gam whispered.

“What?” She looked at him, trying to remember what he had said.

“You two look a lot alike.”

“Oh… yes, he’s my brother.” She took a deep breath to shake off her brother’s, her only brother’s reaction to her. “Where were we?”

* * *

Jora tended to her patient, making sure he was comfortable then left another woman in charge in case he woke and needed her. She was anxious to return to her daughter. It had been so long since she had seen her last, not knowing from one day to the next whether she was even alive. Edda stomped past her in the hallway. He had always disliked the resistance. He blamed them for his father’s death, and now his brother’s. Over the last five years she had heard him berate his sister for having joined them. She only hoped the two of them could work it out eventually. Assuming Keedra ever came home permanently.

When she came out into the common area Keedra was speaking quietly but urgently with her partner. He looked significantly older than her, Jora briefly wondered who he was. Keedra looked up at her mother and turned. Jora saw the handle of a phaser just inside her coat, a stark reminder of the life her daughter led. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

“Not at all.” Keedra said sounding much more grown up than she ought to.

Jora sat on the floor. “I wanted to spend some time with you while we have the chance.”

“I’d like that.” She said, smiling for the first time that evening.

She observed her daughter for a few moments, her face had changed so much, matured. It broke her heart to be reminded of all that she’d missed. Suddenly she wasn’t sure how to start. “How’s your uncle?”

“He’s fine.” She said softly, not giving away any information.

She tried again, “Are you getting enough to eat?”

Keedra shrugged, “We manage. Cardassian rations, mostly, but it works.”

“What about Nin, Ikis and Hep?” She asked. Their families were worried to know what had happened to them, too.

Keedra’s eyes turned down and she shook her head, “They didn’t make it.”

Her heard sank, they’d been such sweet boys. “I’ll let their families know.” She searched for another topic, “What about your Itanu? Were you able to observe it at all?”

“Not really. Things were kind-of difficult right then.” She said cryptically, although Jora knew what she was referring to. Everyone had heard about the massacres less than a year before Keedra would have turned fourteen. Of course, she had feared the worst. Sometime after that she’d heard from someone who heard from someone else who heard from someone else and so on that Keedra was still out there. And now here she was. It was clear that everything was not alright, but she was alive and for that, Jora was grateful.

They talked for a while about things that mothers and their teenage daughters normally talk about. It was apparent that normal developmental markers didn’t cease to occur just because the girl had become a soldier.

Despite Keedra’s attempt at cheerfulness, Jora could see a heaviness to her smile, a darkness in her eyes, experience beyond her years. She talked vaguely about events and people without sharing a single detail, seeming to guard every word. What had she been through? Who had she known and lost? Jora still mourned the love of her life, the father of her children. Falam had worked in a records office when the Cardassians became suspicious that he was passing information on to the resistance. They had arrested him and he died in prison a few days later. She had hoped her daughter would have been spared that pain. But looking into her face, she knew that was not the case. No tears ever came to her eyes. She had buried the pain. Jora couldn’t blame her for that.

Eventually Keedra spoke again, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here for you after Kersht…” She didn’t finish the sentence. “I couldn’t put you and Edda at risk by coming here.”

Now it was Jora’s turn to bury her pain. Losing her husband was difficult, then her daughter to the resistance, and now one of her sons. She still called Edda by his brother’s name sometimes, sending both of them into tears. “We understood. Edda’s angry about a lot of things, but deep down I think he does understand why you have to stay away.”

“Still, I wished I could have been here for you.”

“So, why now? Why did you take the risk now?”

Keedra leaned back, “All I can tell you is that our mission is more important than any of our lives, and it’s crucial that we complete it.”

Jora considered pressing her about it, but decided to respect her daughter’s judgement. It was getting very late, she wanted to keep talking but people were wanting to go to sleep. One of the problems with sharing a home with so many people. She told Keedra good night and left to check on her patient before laying down for the night.

* * *

Kee and Gam slipped out of the house as early in the morning as possible. She wanted to avoid making them feel obligated to share their meager supplies with them, besides she didn’t want to run in to Edda again. As they approached the nearest gate they saw that a checkpoint had been setup during the night, the Cardassians were searching everyone leaving the camp. “They must know we’re here.” She said quietly. Plan B. “I’ll create a diversion, you get that isoliniar rod out of here.” He hesitated, but finally turned away.

Once Gam was far away from her, she moved to an empty area. Then she crouched down and pulled out her phaser.

* * *

Keedra had left after a short good bye, _too short_ , Jora thought. She had been so guarded about her mission, she was worried something might happen. She followed at a distance to make sure she got out safely. Edda insisted on coming with her. When they caught sight of her, Keedra was alone and walking with purpose away from the crowd of people starting to get in line for the day’s rations. Then she saw her do something terrifying. She knelt down on the gravel on one knee, pulled out a phaser and started firing on the Cardassians guarding the gate. Jora screamed and tried to run to her daughter to stop her, but Edda was holding her back.

Keedra had shot two Cardassians, one at the checkpoint and one in the guard tower, before they had time to react. The other one at the checkpoint ducked behind his booth and fired back. The phaser blasts sent gravel into the air around her yet she kept shooting. Other Cardassians were called in as backup, creating a crossfire. Finally, Keedra put her hands up, holding the phaser only in the crook of her thumb.

Three Cardassians walked up to her with their phasers pointed at her, one of them grabbed her phaser and pushed her onto the frozen ground. Pinning her down with his knee on her back he roughly bound her hands, then pulled her back onto her knees. Jora watched with a sick feeling as he stood in front of her, then raised his phaser and struck her on the side of her face knocking her almost back to the ground.

Jora wanted to run to her, to do _anything_ but just watch, but her son still held her back. When Keedra straightened and turned back there was already a bruise forming on her cheek under a fresh, bleeding cut. The glinn gave an order and Keedra was hauled back to her feet and lead away. As the soldiers began dispersing the crowd, Edda pulled Jora away.

* * *

A Cardassian held Kee’s arm in a vice grip as he propelled her roughly through the corridor. His hold on her threw off her balance and she struggled to keep her footing. Every so often one of the other two guards jabbed her in the back with his phaser to keep her moving at an acceptable pace.

Suddenly the one holding her stopped and shoved her ahead of them. She stumbled forward and lost her balance, ending up on one knee. The three Cardassians surrounded her and she braced herself for what was coming. She had just killed two of their colleagues, after all.

One of them slammed his knee into her stomach causing her to double over as pain spread through her abdomen. Then a blow to her ribcage and another and another. With her hands bound behind her back she had no way to protect herself.

One of them struck her across her mouth with something hard and she tasted blood. Then another grabbed her arm and threw her across the corridor into a bulkhead. Her shoulder, which was already in a vulnerable position because of the restraints, hit hard. Her legs buckled and she slid down the wall to her knees. One of them grasped her hair in a tight fist and lifted. She scrambled to get her feet under her to lessen the pain as hairs were ripped from her scalp.

As soon as she was on her feet the one holding her hair let go and propelled her forward down the corridor. The beating was over, at least for now.

Just around the corner they entered a holding area with two empty cells. One of the Cardassians lowered the forcefield and she was shoved inside. The one that had been guiding her along the corridor roughly unshackled her wrists and stripped her coat off of her. She heard them toss it onto a table on the other side of the room to be disposed of later, but she didn’t bother to turn around and face them. Her entire body ached and she carefully lowered herself down to sit on the hard bench, fighting the urge to moan in pain.

Two of the Cardassians left while one settled himself at the desk to keep watch. Kee propped her elbows on her knees and rested her face in her hands. She took a few minutes to become aware of each part of her body in turn, her ribs and stomach and shoulder hurt but no serious injuries were apparent. That in itself was worrisome. It told her that they probably planned to interrogate her. Cold despair crept up her spine. She wasn’t sure if she could go through that again. Not again.

The rest of the cell would meet Gam at the rendezvous point far away from here by the end of the day, but there would be no rescue mission for her. The priority was clear: verify the rod and destroy it. They’d all agreed. This time she was on her own. Ren would be furious.

Taking a few calming breaths, she lifted her head to look around. She recognized this place. It was the same holding area she and the others had been taken to five years ago. She and Hep were in this cell and Nin and Ikis were in the other. The fear, the panic, the pain as they extracted a molar for their records. It seemed like so long ago. Like someone else’s life. Could she have ever been that young?

She reached up and touched above her lip to find that her nose had stopped bleeding, so she wiped the blood away with the back of her thumb. Part of her lower lip was swollen and she felt it with her tongue to find that the inside of it had been cut against her teeth.

When she heard the door open she expected to see the glinn or another officer enter. Instead what she saw made her stomach twist. Her mother and Edda were being lead in, their hands bound behind their backs. No. To the guards she said, “They have nothing to do with this. They don’t know anything!” Her two family members were shoved into the other holding cell. It felt like panic was going to overwhelm her. As the guards that brought them in turned toward the door she finally lost control. “They don’t know anything!” She screamed at them.

With her hands shaking she faced away from the other cell to regain her control. When she finally turned around, she spoke calmly but urgently. “Whatever they ask you, just tell them. Be completely honest. Nothing you know can cause problems for anybody.”

“We don’t need your help. Haven’t you done enough already?!” Edda hissed. “They left us alone until you showed up!”

“I’m sorry.” She began pacing. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Everything you people do just makes things worse!”

She forced herself not to reply. He had no idea what they had been dealing with. The horrors they had stopped and were still trying to stop. She sat back down on the bench while her brother comforted their mother. She might have been able to escape on her own, but now she had her mother and Edda to think about. Anything she did would have to be fast or she’d only put their lives in danger.

After a long while the door opened again. This time the one who came through was the one she expected: Glinn Conalo. Flanked by two guards with phaser rifles. She refused to stand or even look at him. He stood in front of her cell and read from a pad anyway. “Norvish Keedra. It is my duty to inform you that tomorrow you will be convicted by a Cardassian court of 26 counts of murder (including the two this morning), 34 counts of suspected murder and 18 terrorist acts.” She kept her face neutral, she hadn’t wanted her mother to hear that, but at least the numbers were lower than she expected.

“Why have you brought them in? They have nothing to do with this.” She said, finally looking up at him.

“Oh them?” He said, as though he just realized they were there. “We know.”

“Then why?”

“According to your record you’ve never been very, shall we say, _forthcoming_ during questioning. Consider them an _insurance_ policy.”

Kee struggled to keep her face neutral even though she wanted to scream, or cry. She had been taught to withstand a certain amount of torture, and had more than once. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand by while her mother and brother were tortured. She would break, there was no question now.

The glinn continued. “I hope your silence means that it won’t be necessary to involve them in this ugliness.” To the two guards behind him he said, “Take her first, we’ll give her a chance to do the right thing.” He turned back to the door and walked out while the guards raised their rifles at her. One of them lowered the force field and grabbed her by the arm to haul her to her feet. Then he spun her around and pushed her toward the back wall, forcing her to place her hands on the wall to keep from falling.

She avoided glancing into the other cell as the guard from the desk came over to the cell and, with the two rifles trained on her, he stepped into it and bound her wrists behind her back. After that the two with the rifles lead her out of the security office with their weapons pointed at her back.

* * *

Kee was lead into an interrogation room with two chairs facing each other, both had wrist and ankle restraints, one was in the center of the room and one off to the side. There were also a few consoles set into one wall, one of them looked like a communication interface. If it looked like she was going to escape, they could quickly hit the alarm and the place would lock down. The glinn was waiting calmly near one of the chairs, some kind of device in one hand the other resting behind his back. An assistant shoved her into the center chair, unshackled her hands and began binding her to the chair. The two guards that had escorted her from the holding cells made sure she could see their rifles pointed at her head.

As soon as his assistant stepped out of the way and the guards backed off, only slightly, Conalo spoke. “We know that your little performance this morning was a diversion to get your partner out of the camp. We have patrols out looking for him now. Rest assured, he will be found. And we _will_ obtain the property you stole from us.”

Kee didn’t listen to his posturing, she had expected them to deduce her motives, and also to send patrols out looking for Gam. She hoped he made the rendezvous with the rest of the cell before they found him. Instead of listening, she mapped out the actions she would take the moment she had an opportunity. She had two guards on her, she’d need to disable one of them, use the other as a shield, grab his phaser and take out the glinn, then assistant would be next. There were almost certainly one or two guards outside the door. If she was lucky a lot of them were out searching the forest for Gam and there would be only one at the door.

Conalo was still talking. He pulled her attention back to himself by lifting up the device in his hand. “You may not have encountered this little tool before.” He took a moment to look at a pad. “Ah, yes, the last time you were questioned, this was still in development. Allow me to demonstrate.” He quickly slid the handheld device across the fingers of her left hand. She gasped without screaming and tried to pull her hand free of the restraint. The device itself wasn’t sharp, but it felt like a knife had sliced right through her fingers. She looked at her hand with her mouth gaping open, but her fingers were still whole. Working to regain her control she pulled her fingers into a fist, instinctively protecting them.

“Convincing, isn’t it?” He leaned in to speak directly into her ear. “I can make it feel like you’re being cut into pieces over and over.” He stood up and smiled. “And no mess to clean up. Though, there _is_ some debate over whether simulated pain is as effective as the real thing. You’ll let me know, won’t you? ” He moved the device slowly across her forearm, this time she screamed. “And this is what your mother and brother will experience as well if you do not cooperate.” She looked at her arm to verify it was still there. There was a long, thin bruise where the device had simulated a wound. “Now.” He continued, “Where is your friends’ rendezvous point?” He moved the device across her stomach. She screamed.

* * *

Conalo made good on his promise, he had used the device over and over. Kee’s screams became weaker as her body reacted to the intense pain, her breathing ragged. Small cuts and bruises had formed on her wrists as she pulled against the restraints. Her head lolled to the side as she fought to keep the slightest hold on consciousness. _Disable the guards, phaser, assistant, glinn, door._ She recited her plan in her fading mind. His mouth was next to her ear again. “The rendezvous point. This is your last chance to save your mother and brother from this suffering.”

She struggled to speak and her voice came out as only a whisper. _“Klossark farah.”_ Suggesting, in his native language, that he perform an obscene sex act on himself. He didn’t appreciate the recommendation and struck his armored forearm against her cheek. The blow sent her head spinning, she was losing her grip on consciousness. 

Darkness began to close around her vision. She imagined consciousness as a tiny point of light, far away. In the darkness she felt her limbs free of the restraints and body being lifted out of the chair, she reached for the light, pushed her mind toward it. Go! She screamed at herself in her mind.

Finally, her muscles reacted. She smashed her right elbow into the face of the guard on that side. Surprised, he staggered back, blood already pouring out of his nose. She wrapped her left arm around the other guard’s neck, grabbed his shoulder with her other arm and smashed her knee into his gut under his armor. He doubled over, she grabbed his phaser and pulled him toward her, wrapping her arm tight around his neck. With two shots she took out the assistant.

The guard with the broken nose recovered and grabbed her from behind, releasing her grip on his partner. She used his weight and momentum to flip him over her and into his counterpart, then took a moment to shoot both of them. The guard outside the door entered phaser first, but she swung her phaser around and caught him in the chest.

Glinn Conalo, the Cardassian she’d been terrified of since she was a child, the one who had approved her death sentence at the age of eleven, cowered behind the desk. She wanted to make him suffer, for her and for all of the Bajorans he’d tormented, but she reminded herself that there was no time. Surely the guard outside had already sounded the alarm.

Conalo was well hidden behind his desk but a conduit ran across the ceiling above him. Gambling that it contained something volatile, she shot it. The metal glowed for a moment, then exploded sending burning plasma and shrapnel through the small room. The glinn was incinerated quickly. Kee ducked and covered her face but a piece of metal from the conduit cut a deep gash into her arm. No time to tend to it, she grabbed a second phaser and rushed out the door, checking both ways, retraced the rout back to the security office.

* * *

Jora sat with her head in her hands. She had thought the screaming was unbearable. But now that it had stopped she found the silence was much worse. Her whole body shook. Her son tried to comfort her, but the silence was too horrifying to bear.

Over and over during the last five years she’d thought her daughter was dead only to find that she wasn’t. Over and over her heart broke. But every time she learned Keedra was still alive, the joy was tainted with the sorrow that she was still out there, being hunted down by Cardassians. To be tortured or killed. And now the former was happening, maybe the latter already.

She wasn’t naïve, she knew that the Cardassians were skilled at interrogation and seldom let their victim die too soon. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the thought of Keedra already dead or continuing to be tortured for… what… days? And her beloved Edda, too? Tears flowed freely as she buried her face in her hands.

The Cardassian watching over them reacted to an alert on his console by securing the door and taking out his phaser. A few minutes later they heard a noise at the door. Weapons fire? Was Keedra’s cell coming for them? Jora wiped the tears from her face, not quite ready to hope for rescue. Then the sound of a manual override on the other side of the door. The Cardassian crouched behind his desk and aimed his phaser at the door.

The door opened, but no one immediately came through. A moment later Jora saw Keedra, her left arm outstretched, pointing a phaser into the room. Even before she had a line of sight to the guard, she began firing continuously, leaving a trail of burn marks on the wall as she moved into the room. Time seemed to slow as Jora’s mind raced to grasp what she was seeing.

It was hard to believe that it had only been a matter of hours since she’d last seen her. Her outstretched arm was covered in blood from a deep wound. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair had come loose in a mess around her shoulders. Her wrists were bruised and bloodied. She wore a cold, focused expression on her face. Fresh blood trickled from the corner of her lip. The phaser stopped firing, she dropped it and raised another in her right hand without missing a beat. She continued around the corner, pinning the guard behind his desk, unable to fire back. Finally within sight of him, she fired one last shot into his chest.

Keedra tucked the phaser into the back of her belt and moved quickly to the desk without looking at them. She stepped over the dead body as though it were nothing but a piece of debris and pulled a short isoliniar rod out of her shoe. After placing the rod into the console and entering a command the door latched again. When Keedra finally spoke, her voice was course, confirming that it had certainly been her screaming before. “This rod gives me access to some of the computer systems, I’m activating all of the force fields in all of the corridors. That should give us a few minutes.” She continued working the controls and the force field on their holding cell deactivated. “Grab our coats, would you?” Her voice cracked again.

While Edda picked up their three coats from the corner where the soldiers had piled them, Jora stood beside her daughter. “You’re hurt.”

Keedra glanced at her arm. “It’s fine.”

She would press the issue later. “What are you doing now?”

“I don’t have access to shut down the sensors, so I’m uploading a virus from the isoliniar rod that will create sensor ghosts to mask our signatures. When I initiate the program, we’ll have to move out quickly. Most of the Cardassians stationed here are already out in the forest looking for Gam, so we shouldn’t have to deal with too many in here.” She stopped working at the console and bent down to the guard she’d shot to pull some pieces of equipment off of his uniform.

Jora marveled at her focus and strength after going through what Jora could hardly imagine. Last night she’d had the feeling she didn’t know her very well anymore, now she realized that she didn’t know her at all. Stashing some of the equipment in her pockets and attaching others to her clothes, Keedra stood up. “Ready?” Both of them nodded, she pulled out the phaser, tapped a few more controls and said, “Let’s go.” Lastly she grabbed the isoliniar rod.

“Stay close.” She whispered as the door opened. Jora and her son followed Keedra closely. They made their way through the corridors, winding a seemingly random path, backing into rooms or side hallways when they heard Cardassians approaching.

“Why don’t you just shoot them?” Edda hissed in Keedra’s ear.

“If I fire this phaser, they’ll know exactly which sensor readings are really us.” She whispered, her voice barely audible.

They stopped in front of a closed door. Edda whispered again, “Do you even know where we are?”

“Corridor two, section fifteen, outer sweep.” She said softly, distracted by entering commands into a device she had taken from the security office. When she finished whatever she was doing she looked up at them, “This door leads outside, beyond the fence.”

“What about the sensor grid?” Jora asked.

Keedra seemed confused for a moment, “The grid’s been down for a year.”

Without the sensor grid anyone could have slipped out of the camp and into the woods to relative freedom almost at any time, but none of them had known it was no longer functioning and no one would have been willing to try it either.

“Once I open the door, they’ll know exactly where we are and we have to run. This,” she held up the device she’d been working on, “will emit a scattering field that will confuse their sensor sweeps. But as long as someone can see us, we’re vulnerable, so we need to make it into the tree line as quickly as possible.” Keedra waved the device in front of the door’s control panel and it opened. An alarm immediately sounded and she grabbed Jora by the arm and pulled her outside.

She wouldn’t have been able to keep up with her daughter, except that Keedra pulled her along the rocky ground and steadied her when she tripped. Edda was able to manage on his own, but barely. Just before they reached the tree line, phaser fire hit the ground next to them. Once inside the forest Keedra wound her way through the trees and underbrush.

Keedra stopped them behind a large boulder with a fallen tree leaning on top of it and listened with her phaser in her hand. Cardassian voices, not far away. She waved them in a direction away from the voices. They moved quietly, but not quietly enough. Phaser fire passed by Jora’s face. “Down!” Keedra shouted as she fired back. “Go!” Firing behind her as they ran. “You two keep going. I’ll draw them off that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction.

“No, we won’t leave you!”

“Just go. I can move more quickly by myself.” Without waiting for more objections she hurried in the direction she had indicated, firing at the Cardassians as she ran. They shot back, tree trunks exploded behind her when hit by phaser fire. Edda pulled Jora away.

The weapons fire got farther and farther away, then finally stopped. More terrifying silence. Still Edda compelled her to keep going. “We have to go back.” She insisted, “What if they captured her again!”

“If so, we can’t do anything about it.” He said and kept her moving.

Keedra suddenly appeared before them out of the brush without a sound. “Come on! Keep going!” She led them at a fast pace through the forest. Too fast, Jora couldn’t keep up, and Edda was also starting to slow down.

“We have to rest.” She told her. “And I have to look at your arm.” She had noticed blood from the cut on Keedra’s upper arm had run down to her fingertips.

“Not yet. There are a lot of patrols already out here looking for Gam.” Her partner’s name? She did stop a few times to listen and visually scan the area, but not enough for them to rest. She just kept urging them on. After a long time, they came to the edge of the forest, farther away from the camp than Jora had ever been since being moved there when she was young after the Cardassians had seized her family’s property.

They reached an area of cleared land with a tall fence, sensor posts and security cameras. Beyond the fence was a wide strip of empty land that stretched to the horizon on each side. On the other side of the strip another fence and another cleared area. Keedra stopped them just inside the forest and walked parallel to the fence. Apparently seeking some kind of marker, finally, she brought them out to the fence.

“We can cross here. The sensors and cameras have been modified to return false readings. But we have to get to the other side and back into cover as quickly as possible.”

“I don’t know if I can.” She wanted to suggest that her two children go without her, but she knew they wouldn’t.

“They don’t think we can cross, so they won’t be looking for us on the other side. At least not right away. As soon as we’re across and away from the fence, we can rest. I promise.” Without waiting for confirmation, Keedra pulled the bottom of the fence up where it had been cut along the ground and waved them through. She followed and compelled them to run across the uneven rocky ground. Between the two of them, the siblings helped their mother along and neared the other side. For the last little bit of distance Keedra sped up her pace, pulling far in front of them right up to the fence as though she would run into it. She abruptly dropped down and slid, feet first under another cut at the bottom of the fence, then held it up for them to crawl under.

They hurried into the forest again and away from the fence. Finally, Keedra relaxed considerably and selected a place for them to rest. Jora took the opportunity to insist on looking at the cut on her arm. “Let me see it.” Reluctantly Keedra sat down and pulled her arm out of her coat, shivering as the cold air seeped in.

“I’ll need some water.” Jora said.

Keedra popped the casing off of the device she had used to interfere with the sensors. “There’s a stream a little ways that way.” She’d clearly been here before.

Jora handed the casing to Edda and asked him to get some water. The cut was about the length of her hand and deep enough to bleed badly, but it didn’t look like it had gone down into the muscle. When he returned with the water she stretched Keedra’s arm away from her body and dribbled the water over the cut to wash some of the blood and debris away. Keedra winced only slightly.

“I’ll need to sew this up. There’s a needle and thread in my coat.” She began digging in her pockets for the aid pack she kept there.

For the first time that day Keedra actually laughed. “Of course there is.”

She also had a few strips of clean cloth. If she carried much more than that the Cardassians would have confiscated them one of the times she’d been randomly searched. “I don’t have anything to dull the pain or disinfect it.” She said by way of apology.

“It’s fine, just do what you need to do.” Keedra said, preparing herself.

When she had tied off the first few stitches she spoke again without looking up. “They were going to torture us to make you talk, weren’t they?”

Keedra hesitated, not making eye contact, finally she said quietly, “Yes.”

She’d known that was their plan, but with confirmation of it she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She tied a few more stitches before asking her next question. “Was that... were you…” She had a hard time forming the words, “That was you that we heard, wasn’t it?”

This time Keedra turned her face away, “I don’t want to walk about it.”

“And that scar on your back?” She’d seen part of a deep scar extending beyond the edge of her shirt earlier.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She repeated.

Jora continued to stitch the edges of skin together. Some people had a hard time with the sight of a needle piercing flesh, but it had never bothered her any more than sewing a torn piece of fabric. The important thing to her was to help prevent infection or blood loss. The little bit of natural squeamishness paled in comparison. 

She glanced at Keedra, recalling for a moment the time she’d stitched up a cut on her eyebrow when she was six years old. She had peered up at her with those soft green eyes rimmed with red from crying. Her brothers had coerced her into some reckless stunt. Keedra had fallen and they’d been forced to come to her, though Jora had never been able to get a truthful answer out of any of them about what had actually happened. All she knew was that only a week later Keedra was at it again and nearly broke her arm.

Neither of them spoke again until after Jora had finished and wrapped Keedra’s arm. Finally, Keedra said, “Look, I’m sorry you’re involved in this.”

She was about to tell her daughter that she would rather be “involved” than not know whether she was even alive, but Edda spoke before she could, “We were fine until you showed up!” He said harshly.

Keedra’s eyes narrowed at her brother, “I had no choice. We couldn’t fail in our mission, a lot of lives are on the line!”

“That’s always the excuse, isn’t it? The noble resistance has to take actions for the greater good, regardless of how it effects the rest of us! No matter how many of us suffer because of them.” He shot back.

“We’re trying to free us all!” She launched to her feet.

He stepped up and glowered down at her. “All you’re doing is picking fights with the Cardassians that get more of us killed.”

Even though he was a full head taller, she lifted her chin to meet his face almost nose to nose. “We do what we do to _save_ lives. _They’re_ the ones killing our people!” Jora could see her clenching her fists and, for a terrifying moment, she thought she would hit him.

He either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “The facts don’t lie, Keedra! Every time there’s a Resistance attack, the spoonheads come down hard on the rest of us! For every one of them you kill, they kill ten of us!”

Hot rage flashed across her face, “So what would you have us do? If you’re such an expert at strategy, what do you think we should do? Just give up? Let them slaughter us?”

“Let them have what they want. A bunch of ore and some resources aren’t worth the loss of Bajoran lives. Once the Cardassians have all they want from us, they’ll leave. Without all of the bloodshed!”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“What do you mean?” Jora interrupted, grateful for a chance to break up the argument.

With effort, Keedra turned away from her brother and lowered her tone. “They don’t intend to leave any of us alive. They’ve been developing a variation of the ulcartic virus. Slow-acting, highly contagious and engineered to affect only Bajorans. It’s one-hundred percent lethal. No antidote. Their plan was to release the virus once they leave. The entire population would be dead in a matter of months, and they’d claim to the rest of the galaxy that their presence here had been the only thing keeping us from wiping ourselves out.”

Jora stared at her, trying to comprehend what she had said. Edda didn’t believe her, “And _why_ would they go to all the trouble to do that?”

“Because once they’re gone, they know the Federation will find out exactly what’s been going on here. And they’ll come down on them hard. But if they leave no witnesses, it’ll be that much harder to piece it all together.”

“That’s ridiculous. It’s an excuse for more violence.” He said with a dismissive gesture.

“It’s true. It was being developed at a research facility in Dakeen.” She began to raise her voice again.

Edda raised his arms as though she had proved his point. “The one that was bombed last month? There were innocent Bajorans there!”

Keedra looked like she was about to lose control, “Those people were already infected! They were as good as dead!” Her voice wavered, “If they had tried to save them, they would have risked releasing the virus.”

“They only say that now to cover up what they did.”

“I saw the research myself!” Despite her anger, tears welled in Keedra’s eyes. “The cold analysis of every moment of their suffering!”

“Research can be faked.”

Instead of responding, Keedra turned away in exasperation and let out a surprisingly creative series of curse words. Many of which she didn’t know she knew.

Jora stepped in before Edda could escalate the argument once again. “And this has something to do with the reason you were in the refugee camp yesterday?”

Keedra softened as she turned to her mother, “Yes… the Cardassians were able to smuggle four copies of the research out of the facility before it was destroyed. They were sent secretly in different directions across the planet. Many cells have had to coordinate to track them. Our contact intercepted one of them and we picked it up yesterday.” She turned to Edda, “ _That’s_ why I risked coming home last night, why I allowed myself to be arrested to make sure Gam got out of the camp without being searched.”

“If it’s so dangerous, why not just destroy it immediately?” he asked.

“We have to verify that it’s not a decoy. Forget it, you’re not going to believe anything I say.” She sighed, giving up, “We’ve still got a ways to go and I’d like to cover more ground before it gets dark.” She walked away, expecting them to follow. Jora did and Edda eventually fell in line behind her.

* * *

Edda had fallen silent, but Kee knew she hadn’t changed his mind. The silence was enough of a compromise, though. She thought back to their childhood when the three of them had played together. Edda and Kershtd weren’t exactly kind to their little sister, but they had their moments. Especially when their play involved some kind of mischief. She pushed the thought from her mind. She’d lost one brother in a pointless tragedy, and she’d lost her other brother to his hatred and resentment toward the cause to which she had dedicated her life. Tears threatened to fill her eyes but she pushed the pain away. As usual.

Her mother broke the silence, “Where are you taking us? To your _group_?”

Kee shook her head, “No, they’re at least five kelepates back that way.” She waved her hand behind them.

“So, where?”

“To a safe house.” When the resistance had rescued her and the other three children, they had planned to take them all to this same place, but she and the others had insisted on joining them instead. Since then Kee had made this trip and delivered at least a dozen people there. Some were still there, some had been moved to other secure locations, a few had come back and joined the cell. She’d decided it was the best option for keeping Edda and her mother safe.

“For how long?”

“Indefinitely.”

Her mother stopped. “’Indefinitely’?” she repeated.

Kee turned. “I’m sorry, you can’t go back to the camp. Ever.”

Her brother erupted again. “Like fire we can’t!”

“I mean it, Edda. This is the only safe place for you right now, and if I take you there you can’t leave.”

“So we’ll be prisoners there?” 

“No. But we can’t allow you to leave because we can’t risk the Cardassians finding out what that place really is. If you’re not going to stay, I can’t take you there.”

“Just because I disagree with what the resistance does, doesn’t mean I’m a collaborator.” He said with disgust.

Kee tried to speak calmly. “If I take you there and you leave, eventually the Cardassians will find out who you are. They will assume you’re with the resistance. They will take you to an interrogation center and you will be tortured until you give them information. _Any_ information that will make them stop. That information _cannot_ be the identity of the safe house!”

“I can handle myself.”

“You have no idea what they’re capable of, Kersht!” Realizing she had just called him by his brother’s name she turned away and cursed, “ _Kloss!_ Edda!” Tears came to her eyes this time without being able to stop them.

She heard her mother speaking softly to him, “Please, Edda, just come with me. Do it for me.” Then her hand was on Kee’s shoulder. “He won’t leave, I can’t let that happen to him. Thank you for what you’ve done for us today.”

She wanted to turn around and fall into her mother’s arms and let go of everything she’d been holding back for so long. Instead she pulled her emotions under control and said, “I don’t want to approach the house after dark, we should find a place to spend the night.

* * *

They had slept in a small clearing surrounded by a thick ring of trees. Jora was sure Keedra hadn’t slept much if at all. She had a Cardassian comm unit set to passively scan for signals and had said that would alert them if any patrols approached, so it would be safe to sleep. But at the very least she’d been awake when Jora closed her eyes and when she had woken up. Early in the morning they’d found some hava berries to eat. Edda was giving his sister the silent treatment, which seemed to be just fine with her. They traveled for most of the morning at a moderately slow pace through the thick brush and across icy meltwater streams, seeming to switch back from time to time.

Keedra suddenly stopped and put her hands up. _Cardassians!_ Jora thought immediately as she and Edda copied Keedra’s movement. But Keedra oddly didn’t respond with fear or surprise. A few seconds later two Bajoran men came into view with phaser rifles pointed at them. One of them spoke, “Enjoying your stroll through the woods?”

“Not so much, the esani aren’t flowering.” Keedra told him. There were no esani in this area, flowering or otherwise.

“You just have to look a little harder.” He replied.

“I never seem to see them anyway, they’re so hard to find.” She said automatically.

Satisfied, the men lowered their phasers and stepped back to allow them to pass. The man who hadn’t spoken smiled, “Good to see you again, Kee.” He held his arm out to her.

“You too.” She said and touched her forearm to his in some kind of greeting.

After they were past the checkpoint, Jora asked, “If they know you, why the code?”

“There are different responses if I were being followed or coerced.” She said, seeming to follow some invisible pathway through the brush. “And they have alternate responses incase they’ve been compromised somehow.”

When they pushed their way through the last cluster of vegetation they came out into a huge clearing. To their right was a massive house, a mansion, really, painted pure white surrounded by meticulously manicured grounds. All of the plants had been neatly trimmed back for the winter. In the other direction there was a large warehouse next to a small farm with rows of winter vegetables, and empty rows where summer vegetables and fruit-bearing plants could be placed. Several people moved through the farm in heavy coats, tending plants and checking the soil. The trees and undergrowth of the forest were thick all the way around the property except for a gated exit in front of the house.

As the three fugitives walked across the short groundcover that covered most of the clearing, a man came out of the house toward them. When he reached them he turned to walk with them. Without any greeting he spoke to Keedra, “You know that we don’t have any more space.”

“I know. But I _need_ you to take them.”

Reaching the house, he led them inside a large, warm dining room with a long tables and enough seats for easily 30 or more people. The man stopped and stood in front of Keedra without looking at Jora or Edda. “Kee…”

“Let me talk to Lorbi about it.”

The man relented, “You’re going to pull in that favor he owes you?”

“If that’s what it takes to keep them safe.”

“Alright, but I don’t know if he’ll be able to do it.” The man started to walk away, but turned back, “You look like hell, by the way.”

Keedra let out a short laugh, “Thanks.”

Jora had tried to ignore how rough Keedra looked. Her blond hair was dark with dirt and dried blood. The swelling on her lip had gone down, but a dark bruise was still there. Plus the one on her cheekbone.

After the man had walked away a little girl, no more than than six-years-old hurried up to them carrying a tray with three glasses of water. Keedra smiled at her, “Hello Tahlla!” She said in exaggerated tones that people often use with children.

“Hi Kee!” She said in her high-pitched child voice, holding the tray out to them.

They each took a glass and drank. The cold water was cleaner than anything they’d had for a long time. Keedra hugged the little girl and thanked her, then the girl hurried away with the empty glasses. “Everybody at this place has a job. It may look like a luxurious life here, but it’s hard work.” She looked back at the door where the girl had left. “Tahlla’s parents were members of our cell, before my time. They brought her here as a baby. They died a long time ago; this is the only family she’s ever known.”

Another door opened, interrupting Keedra’s explanation. A man in vedic’s robes walked toward them. In contrast to what he wore and the serene expression on his face, his build was tall and wide as though he’d be more apt to be a soldier than a man of the Prophets. He greeted Keedra warmly with a genuine hug. “It’s good to see you, Kee.”

“You too Lorbi.”

After he’d pulled away from Keedra he regarded the other two.

“This is my mother, Jora, and my brother, Edda.” She introduced them.

“Ah, this is why they’re so important to you.”

“And to you.” She argued, “My mother has functioned as a medic in their refugee camp for many years. It seems to me that you’re the only one here with any medical expertise. It must be hard to keep up.” Making a case for their admittance.

Jora jumped in, “Actually, speaking of that, if you have supplies, Keedra has an injury on her arm that I’d like to treat further than I was able to on the way here.”

Lorbi looked between the two, “You’re right, of course, Kee. Let’s talk more while we see what your mother has done.” He led them through a door deeper into the house.

* * *

As medics often do, Lorbi and Kee’s mother talked between themselves while examining her arm as though she were not there. Without a functioning dermal regenerator, they left the stitches in place, but used another device to disinfect the wound, which had already become red and tender. To Kee’s relief, Lorbi was impressed with her mother’s skill and knowledge and it seemed likely that he would find a way to accept them. She’d known she would have to convince him, but between her mother’s usefulness to them and the favor Lorbi owed her, she had been hopeful.

“There’s an area back there where you can wash up.” Lorbi said. “After that, we’ll show you around and figure out how to rearrange things for your stay.”

Kee took his hands to emphasize how much she appreciated his choice, “Thank you.”

“Now we’re even.” He said to her.

A lopsided smile crept onto her lips, “Until next time, anyway.”

As he left the room to make arrangements, he turned, “I don’t know, with your family members here now, I think anything you do from here on out is a given.” He winked as he slipped out of the room.

Kee couldn’t help but laugh. She always enjoyed coming here and seeing him. They found the wash area in the back. She washed the dried blood off of her left arm and the dirt from the rest of her exposed skin, gently rinsing her tender wrists. It felt good to clean up a little, she spent a large portion of her life covered in dirt. Living in the forest, there was usually no point in getting too clean. After her face and hands were clean she pulled her hair back, twisted it around and found an elastic band to hold it together in a messy bun.

Edda still hadn’t said a word to her all day. She wasn’t sure if they’d ever resolve their disagreements, but for now, at least, he’d be safe. They’d probably want to put him to work in either the warehouse or on the farm, whichever suited his skills and interests. It suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t actually know what his skills and interests were anymore.

Her mother finally spoke up as she was drying her hands, “What exactly do they do here?”

“I’m sure Lorbi will do a much better job explaining than I could.” In actuality, she avoided knowing too much about what occurred here. All she really knew was that warehouse in the back manufactured some kind of highly sensitive and technical equipment that the Cardassians required. When she had first been told about it, it had sounded too much like collaboration to her. But in reality, they used the Cardassian’s dependence on the equipment to their advantage. Not only did they house people the Resistance wanted to keep safe and build a backdoor into all of the tech, which is what Joial used in his programming to get in, they also kept a stash of weapons hidden for them. In addition to that they employed over a hundred other people from the surrounding area, paying them a fair wage and providing proper working conditions. Those people were then able to feed their families. The small farm also gave the residents an independent and self-sustaining food supply. It was a system Kee was proud of and she would do anything to protect them.

“You trust him.” It was a statement, not question.

“Absolutely.” She said and walked with them back out to the common area.

* * *

Jora lost track of Keedra. At some point she had slipped away without the rest of them noticing. Lorbi had led Jora and Edda around the massive house, indicating the common areas, showing them a single room where she and her son could stay, and pointed out a locked door that was off limits. He said only the members of the resistance and the sentries that stood guard at the edge of the forest were permitted there.

They came back to the dining area where they had first entered and he showed them over to a large window that looked out on the back part of the property. He explained to them the general purpose and function of the warehouse and farm, but didn’t go into detail about what was manufactured there. His elusiveness about it gave her a bad feeling. By then it was nearing evening and she watched small groups of people exiting the warehouse, at least a hundred of them. She had seen people leaving Cardassian manufacturing facilities exhausted, dirty and despondent. But these people were just the opposite, completely dispelling her misgivings from a moment before.

Most of the workers from the warehouse walked past the house and out the front gate, but a few entered the dining room, along with a handful of people from the farm. Keedra finally appeared through a doorway in the back. “Where were you?” Jora asked her when she came near.

“I wanted to say hello to a few people.” She looked mockingly annoyed at Lorbi, “I poked my head into the kitchen for a moment and got drafted! Glara gave me a job then disappeared for an hour!”

Lorbi chuckled, “That was your own fault.”

As Jora enjoyed Keedra’s genuine smile she realized that she smelled food cooking and remembered that she had barely eaten in the last few days, even less than normal. Several people, including little Talla, brought food for everyone, then sat down themselves. When Jora found a place, she took a look at the food that had been brought. More food than she had seen in a very long time. “This looks wonderful. It’s been so long since we’ve had fresh vegetables!”

Lorbi asked the Prophets’ blessing on the food and they began to eat.

A woman seated on Lorbi’s far side leaned forward to get her attention. “You must be Jora!”

“Yes.” She said hesitantly.

“I’m Rahnah. Joial’s wife.”

“Wife! When did this happen?”

The woman smiled, “A few months ago. Lorbi performed the ceremony for us.”

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, “Is Joial _here_?”

“Oh, no. I haven’t seen him since.” A flicker of sadness crossed her face and she glanced at Keedra. “I do get messages from him from time to time.”

Jora turned to her daughter, “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday when I asked how he was doing?”

“I can’t just go around telling people about her. We have to be _very_ careful about our families. Besides, I said he was ‘fine’. I don’t know how much more _fine_ you could be.”

Jora eyed Keedra, wondering how much more she hadn’t told her.

After an awkward silence, Lorbi asked Keedra, “So how’d you get the cut on your arm?”

She shrugged, “Shot a plasma conduit. Shrapnel from the explosion got me.”

“A plasma conduit? Are you insane?” He asked with more rebuke than surprise in his voice.

“Maybe.” She joked. “It was worth it, though. Caught Conolo in the blast.” Keedra said casually, shrugging again.

Jora had to process that information for a moment, “Wait, Glinn Conolo is dead?”

“Yes, that’s what happens when you’re enveloped in superheated plasma.” She said with an unbelievably flat tone.

Her daughter’s cold attitude aside, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The cruel overseer who’d terrorized their refugee camp since she was a child was dead. And Keedra hadn’t thought to tell her? “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It didn’t come up.” She said around a mouthful of food.

“It didn’t come up?” Jora repeated much more harshly than she’d intended.

“How did you _think_ I got away?”

Jora didn’t know what to say, her mouth only gaped open. She’d seen her daughter kill the guard in the security office without a perceptible reaction. Had she really thought that was the only one? But Conolo himself...? “How could you not have told me?”

Keedra dropped her fork noisily onto her plate. “What? You want a list?!” Jora had clearly hit a nerve, but Keedra closed her eyes and reigned in her anger. “I’m sorry. I don’t typically go around talking about it.” She said softly.

Jora let the issue drop quietly.

A few minutes of silence passed and Keedra said to Lorbi, “After this I want to go down to the weapons cache and resupply before I head out.”

Lorbi shrugged, “Do what you need to do, they’re your weapons.”

“You’re leaving right away?” Jora asked.

“That’s the way this works.”

“But can’t you at least stay until morning? I thought you didn’t want to travel at night?”

Keedra swallowed her bite and looked at her before responding, “I didn’t want to travel _with you_ at night. I’ll be fine by myself.” Keedra turned away to keep eating and finally turned back when Jora was still silent. “We have certain procedures.”

Jora glanced around at the 30 or so people she didn’t yet know but would be living with for an uncertain amount of time. She didn’t want to get into another argument with her daughter in front of them. “Just don’t leave without me knowing it. Ok?”

“Ok.” Keedra quickly finished her meal and left without a word.

Edda continued to remain sullen, but he did at least seem to appreciate the meal. He eventually left too, presumably up to their living space. 

Jora had eaten slowly to give herself time to appreciate the meal. When she finally finished she thanked Lorbi and moved to a part of the room where she could watch for Keedra to emerge from the door that was off limits. When she did they walked outside together. Keedra had a phaser rifle casually hanging from her shoulder. She had seen many Cardassian soldiers with them, but it seemed strange and oversized for her daughter’s slight build. She also carried a backpack filled with supplies and equipment that Jora couldn’t even guess at. The thought of her going back out there, needing the weapons she carried made Jora’s heart ache. “Can’t you just stay for one night?” She begged.

Keedra stopped in the middle of the clearing and faced her, the playfulness from earlier in the evening gone from her face. “With a record like mine, every minute I stay here puts a big bullseye on this place.” She said forcefully, pointing to the house.

Jora felt tears well in her eyes. She’d heard the Cardassians’ list of her daughter’s crimes and had hoped she would dispute them, or at least insist that the numbers weren’t so horribly high. She couldn’t bare knowing what her baby girl’s life was like out there.

She softened when she saw her mother’s tears, “Look, I’m sorry. But this is the life I lead.”

“Then don’t. You can choose to stay, and not just for tonight. _Stay_ with us.”

She shook her head, “I have people waiting for me. Counting on me. Bajor _needs_ every one of us. I don’t have the luxury of choice.” She started to walk away, but after a few steps turned and came back. She wrapped her free arm tightly around Jora’s neck, and said in a choked whisper, “I love you.” Without making eye contact, she turned away and walked quickly to the edge of the clearing and disappeared into the forest.

Jora covered her face with her hands and finally let go of the tears she’d been holding back for almost two days. She hadn’t heard anyone coming up behind her, but suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, it was Lorbi.

“She’s one of the toughest, smartest and bravest people I know. You should be proud of her.”

Jora had recognized all of those things over the last two days.

“The Prophets are with her, Jora.” He added.

She just nodded and begged the Prophets that she would see her again.


	9. BAJOR: 9370 (2368, EARTH CALENDAR)

The Cardassians had been coming to the villages all over Joralla for the past few months and abducting random groups of people. Nobody knew where they were being taken, but none had ever returned. The members of Ren’s cell, which now included those from Prortu’s since her death, were posing as locals in one of the villages, betting that next time the Cardassians came, at least one or two of them would be taken. If that happened, they could activate an implant they all carried that would leave a trail of tritonium isotopes for the others to follow.

Kee had slept in a bed every night for nearly a week, more than she had during her entire life up until then. The rising sun had begun to light the inside of the small room, but not quite enough to wake her. In her still-dreamy mind she felt a body pressed against her back, an arm draped across her hip and Traie’s breath on her neck as his lips brushed against her skin.

Suddenly, shouting from outside woke her and she turned to find that she was alone. Her heart ached for him as she stared at the empty space next to her. But before she could think more about it, the door to the little cottage was kicked in by a heavy black boot. Without giving her a chance to get up, the Cardassian grabbed her out of the bed and dragged her into the dusty street toward other Bajorans from the village. With phasers pointed at them the group shuffled up a ramp into a personnel skimmer.

The light outside was too bright and the inside too dim, Kee couldn’t see who else was with her. Part of her hoped the others from her cell hadn’t been taken, but she selfishly didn’t want to be alone. After some determined number of people had been brought onboard, the ramp lifted to seal them in. Once the ramp had locked out the last sliver of light, they were plunged into complete darkness. The entire procedure had taken only a few minutes.

Kee reached up to the soft spot above her collarbone and ran her finger along it, searching for a tiny bump resting against the bone. When it had first been inserted, she’d been paranoid that it would shift and get lost somewhere under her skin. She’d fingered it obsessively, but in the last few years had hardly given it a second thought. Once she located it, she tapped the implant twice to activate it. A moment later the deck under them lurched as the skimmer lifted off. She reached out to grasp some hands beside her in what she hoped would be a comforting gesture.

The group shifted collectively as the anti-grav kicked in, then there was no perceptible movement. No way to tell which direction they were traveling, how fast or how far. The helpless captives could only wait. After a long while, Kee’s eyes adjusted to the dark enough that she could see faint light coming through an air vent, but it wasn’t enough to see the faces around her. The Cardassians surely had surveillance devices around them so it would be unwise to start calling out names to see who might be with her. She forced herself to remain patient.

Kee’s stomach dropped, signaling a return to normal gravity and soon a shutter moved through the deck as the vehicle touched down. She could hear shaking breaths all around her as the terrified group waited. Finally, the ramp began to open up and a sliver of light sliced through the darkness, blinding them. The group pushed back away from the opening as Cardassian soldiers came into view, pointing phaser rifles at them and began grabbing people and propelling them down the ramp.

A Cardassian at the bottom of the ramp sorted people into two fenced areas, the men to the left and the women to the right. Kee thought she saw Gam up ahead, but it was hard to see in the glaring light. At the base of the ramp she was roughly pulled to the right and lined up in a fenced corridor with the other women.

Up ahead, one woman at a time was shoved through a door. Then a few minutes later another, then another. The woman in front of Kee turned to look at her, fear written plainly on her face. Kee put her hand on the woman’s shoulder and she turned back. All of the people in the group abducted today knew that she was with the resistance. It would have been impossible to hide it from them. She only hoped her presence could be a comfort to them.

The sound of heavy machinery filled the air, clearly identifying this place as a mine. Looking around, she could see that they were nowhere near Joralla. The land here was flat and the trees short. She guessed they could possibly be in the Sahving Valley or somewhere along that latitude, there were a number of mining operations there.

Soon the woman in front of her was guided through the door and Kee could see inside for a moment. It was a small chamber with a door on the opposite side. Inside were three Cardassians, one with a phaser rifle, and that was all she could see before the door closed again. The soldier on this side of the door grabbed her upper arm and held her tight. She resisted the urge to yank her arm away, to strike him or to question his parentage, forcing herself instead to only lower her head in submission.

When the door opened again the three Cardassians were still there but the woman was gone and Kee was shoved into the middle of the room. The door shut behind her and the Cardassian with the rifle leveled it at her chest as one of the others took out a knife and began cutting away her clothes. Panic gripped her heart but she forced herself to remain calm. Once he was done and she stood there naked the third Cardassian passed a sonic sanitizer over her from head to toe. Then the one with the knife gathered her long hair into a bundle and cut it off. Bits of short hair fell loose around her face, and the other Cardassian grabbed her hand and pressed her thumb against a scanner. She silently prayed that Joial’s hack to the identification database had not been detected. Her heart pounded in her ears as she waited. A short moment later the scanner signaled its approval and a stack of grey clothing and a pair of flimsy shoes were thrust into her hands. After that she was pushed through the other door into a room where the other women were getting dressed, all of their hair had been cut like hers.

Kee moved to the side of the room and dressed, then looked around to assess the situation. Three more soldiers stood around the room keeping watch. None of the women here were from her cell and a number of them were crying. She moved to the one closest to her and wrapped her arm around her for comfort, then reached out for another with the other arm. The guards eyed her with suspicion but didn’t stop her as she moved through the group, trying to touch and encourage each one here.

Once the last of their group had been processed they were sent outside to rejoin the men. This time she not only saw Gam but also Joial, both dressed in the same grey clothes. 

Without explanation the group was led into a building where row after row of dirty, exhausted Bajorans stood before bins of rocks. From what she could tell, they were sorting the rocks from one bin into two others. The Cardassian in charge began pulling people off the line to be replaced by the newcomers. One by one they were assigned a place in line as the previous occupant was led away. Kee was grabbed and placed in front of a set of bins. The one on the left held plain, grey rocks. The one on the right held chunks of uridium ore, identifiable by the metallic bands running through it. The bin in the center was a mixture. Guessing at what she was expected to do, she began picking up pieces from the center and sorting them.

* * *

After many hours of sorting rocks, Kee’s shoulders and back ached. Her fingers were raw. The sound of the machinery pounded in her head and layers of dirt attached themselves to the sweat on her arms and face. She picked up another piece from the center bin, which had been refilled at least a dozen times by now. Bands of ore ran through the chunk of rock and she stopped for a moment to gaze at it. As if taking the ore from them wasn’t bad enough, her people were forced to hand it to them. Giving away fragments of their own world a piece at a time. Her reverie was interrupted by a jab in her back by a phaser rifle. She immediately dropped the piece into the proper bin and entertained a fantasy about killing the guards one by one, each in a different way.

About the time she felt she could not pick up another rock, an alarm sounded. The veterans of the work line stopped and backed up one step, Kee copied them. Then they turned and were ushered out. The line moved unbelievably slowly, and she had no idea what they were even in line waiting for, she simply followed, too exhausted to even care anymore.

Finally, as the line moved into another room, she could smell food. Overcooked and on the edge of being spoiled, but food nonetheless. When she reached the front of the line, a Cardassian woman in civilian clothes handed her a wooden bowl. The Cardassian woman looked at her with something like pity and Kee wanted to reach across and strangle her. Instead she looked down at the bowl to see a few unidentifiable chunks in varying shades of brown floating in a thin broth. It smelled even worse than it looked, but she knew there would be no opportunity to obtain anything else, so she turned and found an empty seat.

The first bite almost made her gag, but she swallowed fast. After forcing down a few more bites two people dropped into the seats next to and across from her. She looked up to see it was Gam and Joial. Looking at them she realized how bad she must look, too, but she was glad to see them. They both had similar reactions to the food. “Makes Naren seem like a gourmet cook, doesn’t it?” She teased.

The two of them snickered in agreement. “I wonder what they did with the people they took off the line?” Gam said.

Joial responded without looking up from his bowl, “Other duties if they’re lucky. But laborers who are too sick or disabled to work are usually killed or sent to medical testing facilities.”

That last option turned her stomach more than the awful food itself. She leaned back in her chair and dropped the spoon into the bowl with a loud clank and pushed it away from her. “Thank you for that.” She told him. There was no way she’d be able to take another bite.

The man to her right spoke up, “If you’re not going to finish that, can I have it?”

Her heart broke for the man, so desperate for the few bits and broth left in her bowl. She slid it over to him without a word and he quickly ate it. Kee turned back to her partners and asked Joial in a hushed voice, “We need to prepare to disable the defense shields before the others get here. What’s the plan?”

“I’ve got most of it worked out, but I need each of you to do something.” He outlined his plan, giving both of them their assignments in exact detail. Kee marveled at his understanding of Cardassian computer systems from memory, down to the layout of each interface they’d be using.

“Got it.” She said when he was done, then the workers were shepherded out of the mess hall and into gender-separated barracks.

* * *

Every time Kee blinked, she had to force her eyes open. She wanted to sleep so badly but had to stay awake no matter what. Other women slept on bunks around her, their soft breathing threatening to lull her to sleep. When she heard no more restless stirring she waited a while longer to make sure they were all asleep, then slid off her bunk as quietly as possible. Despite her care the metal joints creaked loudly. She stopped and listened to see if the noise had awakened anyone, but no one stirred.

Kee walked silently between the rows, looking for a ventilation grate or some other way out of the room. She found a maintenance hatch, but it was sealed. In the corner of the room she finally saw a vent in the ceiling that looked just large enough for her to squeeze through. She slowly and delicately climbed up the edge of the bunk nearest the opening, but it was still too far to reach. Stretching one leg across to the adjacent bunk she straddled between the two and could finally reach the vent.

She dug her sore fingers into the edge and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. An inspection showed that it was indeed a pressure fit, so should pop right off. Retrieving a thin, sharp piece of ore she had pocketed earlier in the day, she wedged it into the gap between the wall and the rim and pried with all of the strength she could manage in her position. When it suddenly gave way, she had to grab the loose grate with one hand and the opening to the duct with the other to keep from falling. She listened to the sounds of sleeping behind her and breathed a sigh of relief when all was still quiet.

With the grate propped where it wouldn’t fall and make a loud clamor, Kee reached into the duct to find a handhold and lifted herself inside. The muscles in her arms and back and fingers protested, but she kept climbing, grasping for any edge to hold on to, no matter how small, until only her legs hung out. She continued wiggling and pulling until her knees were inside, then she could wedge them against the sides of the duct to propel herself forward. It was tight, if she’d been well-fed, she’d never have been able to fit.

After a few meters, the duct opened up into a larger passage that she rolled and tumbled into. She took out the piece of ore again and scratched her name into the side of the duct to mark where she’d come through. Then she crawled through the larger duct until she found a vent that opened into a corridor. She listened for a few moments but only heard the sound of her own breath, so she laced her fingers between the openings in the grate and wiggled it lose, setting it inside the duct next to her. Then she turned onto her stomach and lowered herself out of the opening. When her arms were fully extended she dropped the last meter to the floor, crouching to absorb the impact.

In the dim light she padded barefoot down the corridor until she found a computer access panel. Again using the piece of ore, she pried off the interface cover. She smiled at the amorphous piece of metal. It seemed fitting that the very thing that was being systematically taken from them would be her tool to help liberate these workers. She reached inside the web of cables and circuitry and used her tool again to pry an ODN cable loose then connected it to a different port. Before she was able to start the next step of the process, she heard footsteps. Probably a patrol. She reattached the panel and hurried away and backed into the shadows.

Kee’s heart pounded but she kept her breath slow and quiet as the guard meandered by, passing the beam of a flashlight briefly down the corridor where she hid. She listened to his footsteps as they grew quieter. Finally, she emerged from her hiding place and resumed work in the panel. With the ODN rerouted to an incorrect port, she first needed to place the computer into a diagnostic mode where it would get stuck in a loop. After that, all she needed to do was drill down into the source code and plant a command that Joial could then use at another console to disable the weapons without the sabotage being detected. Gam would also make a modification elsewhere that would cause a power serge when they tried to reactivate the weapons and would knock out the shield generators. She only hoped these modifications would go undetected long enough for the rest of the cell to arrive.

When she had pulled up the exact code block she was looking for, she typed in the sequence in Cardassian characters, then backed out of the system, one screen at a time. Lastly she pulled up the log file, copied a span of ten minutes from the previous night and overwrote her activities. After that, she cancelled the diagnostic program, opened the panel and moved the ODN line back where it had been. She hurried back to the open vent, which stood a meter above her reach.

Looking up at the opening, she considered her options: jump or climb. But the wall was smooth, no handholds or ledges. The opposite wall was too far away to use it to brace herself for a climb. Jumping would have to do. She listened for footsteps, crouched and leapt as high as she could, just barely grasping the edge of the opening. She dangled there for a moment, gathering her strength before pulling herself upward using only her fingertips at first. Once she got her elbows over the edge she could push herself up then turn to sit on the frame. Sitting for a moment to catch her breath, she realized there was blood on the edge next to her, so she looked at her fingers to see that they were bleeding. That would certainly make tomorrow’s work more difficult. She applied pressure directly to each of the cuts, hoping to slow the bleeding, then pulled her legs inside the duct and repositioned the vent cover back into place and crawled back to the mark she’d made earlier.

The smaller section of duct was short enough that she could hear footsteps beyond in the barracks. Heavy boots, walking slowly. A patrol must have been checking the bunks. She thought quickly. If they saw that she was missing or that the vent was open, that could trigger a lockdown and an analysis of the computer systems that would uncover their sabotage. She decided to go in head-first, squeezing and wiggling through the narrow space as she had before.

When she reached the end, she could see a Cardassian soldier with a rifle on the far end of the dark room, pacing up and down each row. She reached out to grasp the corner of the bunk nearest her and pulled her body out. Once her knees were free, she put one foot on each bunk as before and quickly secured the grate back into place before dropping to the floor. With the patrol approaching her empty bunk, she crouch-walked as quickly as she could back and rolled into the thin pad that was her bed. Her heart pounded and she desperately wanted to gasp for air, but she forced her body to relax and to breathe slowly. With her eyes closed she could hear the patrol pass slowly by her without stopping. She continued to feign sleep until he left the room, then she could finally breathe deeply. She rolled onto her back and stared at the bottom of the bunk above her wondering if she’d be able to actually sleep after all of that.

* * *

The three of them had been in this place for four days now. Joial wondered how long it would take for the others to track them here. Assuming they could make it at all. The endless round of work, one unsatisfying meal a day and short sleep period gave him a lot of time to think. The fatigue threatened to overwhelm him, but he kept his mind busy coming up with contingency plans. If their sabotage failed, what would they do? If their sabotage was discovered, what would they do? If they themselves were discovered? If the rest of the cell never made it? He’d imagined a massive flowchart of ifs, but couldn’t possibly plan for everything that could go wrong.

He glanced down the row. Today he’d been assigned a place not far from Kee. She looked exhausted, too. Her stringy hair hung in her face, he couldn’t quite get used to seeing it cut short like that, it didn’t seem right. A soldier passed by behind him and Joial made sure his eyes were on his work. After a few more steps the soldier was behind Kee, then another step after that he came to a stop and began harassing the woman next to Kee. He could see her trying to ignore the commotion next to her, but that wouldn’t last long. Joial knew Kee too well, she wouldn’t stand for it. Sure enough, when the soldier began pulling the woman away to take her somewhere private, Kee reacted. Despite her exhaustion, she sprang into action, striking out with the heel of her hand to brake his nose first. Then she drove her heel into the inside of his thigh, knocking him to the ground, then her knee to the side of his neck.

Kee didn’t see the two other soldiers descending on her until it was too late. One grabbed her from behind, holding her arms back and the other slammed the butt of his phaser into her stomach. Before Joial knew what he was doing, he rushed to help her, but another two soldiers were on him before he could reach her. Their reaction time was staggeringly fast. The four soldiers shouted at the other Bajorans to get back to work as they hauled Kee and Joial away and down a corridor. The injured one stumbled off in a different direction.

They stopped where the corridor intersected another at a T and held them tight far away from each other. The one that had struck her with his phaser walked over to her and gripped her chin in his hand. “Looks like we have a troublemaker here.” He looked up at the one holding her, “And you know what we do with troublemakers.”

The one holding her sneered at her in a way that made Joial’s skin crawl. “No!” He called and struggled to free himself, trying to lunge toward them, but the fourth soldier slammed the butt of his rifle into his stomach, forcing him to his knees.

The first one spoke again, “Who do you think he is? Her father? Her lover?” He smirked as the others chuckled. “We’ll make him watch.”

Kee’s jaw was tight, her face nearly unreadable, but he could see she was calculating, searching for a way out.

Joial tried to fight back, but the one who’d struck him, grabbed the hair on the back of his head and raised his fist as though to hit him again.

“No! No!” Kee cried out, “I’ll cooperate, just send him back to work.” She pleaded.

“Kee! No!” He shouted and lunged to free himself but the Cardassian pressed the tip of his phaser under his chin.

The Cardassian who seemed to be in charge pondered the options as he slipped his hand around her waist, finally saying to Kee, “An appealing offer, but you see, I like a challenge.” He motioned to the others to take them away, but just as they began moving them away to a suitable location, an alarm klaxon blared.

“Take them to a holding cell!” The one ordered as he marched off in a different direction.

With tremendous relief Joial allowed himself to be led down the corridor with Kee toward the holding area. Sounds of weapons fire outside the compound reached them. Their friends had arrived. He began watching for any flaw he could exploit. Once there they were shoved into a holding cell together and two of the soldiers walked away, leaving one to guard them.

Joial turned to Kee, “Are you ok?”

Kee looked at him as though he’d just asked the most ridiculous question she’d ever heard. “Yeah.” Then she turned away to begin visually inspecting the cell for weaknesses.

He smiled to himself. Only six years ago she’d been this brave little girl, so uncertain and terrified of letting anyone down. She’d given everything of herself to the Resistance without hesitation. And now the woman who stood next to him was confident, cunning and strong. Joial was proud of her beyond words, but a nag of regret always pulled at the back of his mind. He was sure her father wouldn’t have wanted this life for her. Yet, he doubted there would have been any way to stop her from joining anyway.

Weapons fire in the corridor just outside drew the guard’s attention. Joial and Kee waited helplessly in the cell. The door opened and a single phaser blast hit the guard where his armor wouldn’t protect him and he crumpled to the floor. A moment later Gam slipped inside holding one phaser rifle in his hand and two more slung across his shoulder. “Thought you two might need a hand.” He said before firing into the force field control panel. The force field flickered and winked out.

Gam handed the two rifles to Kee and Joial saying, “I saw the two of you hauled away. As soon as the alarm started it was chaos. The workers overwhelmed the guards on the floor. I grabbed a phaser and headed here. Picked up two more on the way.”

“Nice!” Kee said proudly to the man she’d trained.

“Let’s see what _further_ chaos we can spread around here.” Joial said, leading the way out.

The three moved along the corridor, taking turns covering each other as they went. Sounds of movement from around the bend set them on edge. Together they swung around the corner and found themselves pointing their phasers at the tips of two Klingon disrupters. At the sight of Ren and Alerra, Joial breathed a sigh of relief.

Ren dug into his pocket and retrieved three comm units and handed them to each of them. He rested a hand on Kee’s shoulder in an affectionate gesture Joial had seen him do many times. Those two had some kind of special connection. Ren turned to him, “Joial, I need you to come to the command center with me. I want the weapons and shields back online while we regroup.” Then to the others he said, “You three, continue searching the compound. If you happen to come across any medical supplies, grab them. Ilwea says we’re running low.” After nodding their understanding, Kee and the others started down the corridor and Joial followed Ren the other way.

* * *

Kee took point, leading Alerra and Gam on a search of the compound as ordered. The area was almost entirely empty, most of the Cardassians having moved to their emergency posts as soon as the alarm went off. She focused on what was ahead of her, trusting the other two to watch their backs. She cautiously approached an intersection, peering down both directions. When she saw nothing, she darted across, but before the others could follow her, phaser fire erupted between them.

A team of Cardassians advanced quickly on their position. The Bajorans fired back, but the Cardassians were coming in hard and fast. Kee motioned for the others to fall back as she moved in the opposite direction. The Cardassians split up in both directions. With phaser beams blazing over her head and at her heels, she ran as fast as she could down the corridor. She rounded a corner well ahead of her pursuers and began reaching out to tap the door controls on each door she passed, finally slipping inside one of them. She leaned against the wall in the dark room, holding her phaser rifle at the ready and locked the door, working to catch her breath.

Suddenly a noise in the room caught her attention. She breathed slowly, quietly, listening for any sound and finally became aware of someone else’s breathing. She looked around the dark room to see rows of countertops, storage units and cooking surfaces. This was their kitchen where they made that awful food. After another minute of listening, she was able to pinpoint the source of the sound, behind a large row of kettles. Kee lowered herself down to a squat and flipped up the scope on her phaser rifle. Peering through it, she could see a pair of hands and feet beyond the kettles. “Step out with your hands up.” She said with as much authority as she could manage.

The Cardassian woman from the food line stepped timidly out into view with her hands up. Kee leveled her phaser rifle at her chest, itching to pull the trigger, but she couldn’t bring herself to shoot an unarmed civilian in cold blood. Not even a Cardassian.

“Please, don’t hurt me.” The woman begged.

Kee reached out to grab the woman’s arm and spun her around to face away from her. With her free hand, she patted the woman down for weapons, trackers or anything else. When she found nothing she turned her back to face her, pressing the tip of her phaser rifle against her cheek. “If you try anything, I will kill you.” When the woman nodded her agreement, Kee shoved her down into a chair and began scouting the room.

The woman was silent for a long time, then finally said in a plaintive voice, “Why are you doing this?”

Kee blinked and turned back to her. “What?”

“Why do you attack us?”

Kee’s mind reeled to grasp the question. This woman saw the starved, exhausted workers every day. How could she not understand? “Why do you think?”

“I don’t know. We’re just trying to help you!”

“Help us? Help us do _what_ exactly?”

“Lift you out of this poverty.” The woman’s genuine look of pity, like the first time she’d seen her, made Kee want to slap the expression right off of her face.

Kee fought to reign in the fury that was building inside her. With a careful control over her voice, she said, “How dare you.” She began to lose her control and her voice raised a bit. “You come here and take whatever you want from us, you throw our society into hopeless poverty, you murder our people! How dare you claim that you’re helping us!”

The smug look had not left the woman’s face. “If you would only allow us to help you, nobody would die.”

“You seriously can’t believe that!” But it was clear that she did. “We were a peaceful people with a thriving economy before your people came. There were no labor camps, no ghettos, all of that happened _after_ your people came to ‘help us’.” The woman was silent, unusual for a Cardassian, so Kee continued. “My family was wealthy with a successful business until some Cardassian decided he wanted their home. So he took it from them and sent them to a refugee camp to live off of the _charity_ of the Cardassians. It happens all the time, all over Bajor. The Cardassians want something, they take it. They need workers, they abduct them. And anybody who stands up to stop it be dammed!”

“I didn’t know.” The woman said softly without making eye contact.

But Kee didn’t let up. “Do you think we _want_ to live like this? Do you think any of these people came here by choice? Do you think they want or deserve to be worked to death? To be starved? Raped?” She brought her voice back down to a lower volume. “These people had lives. Hard lives because of everything your people have taken from them, but they were with their families and friends. They had homes and jobs and community. Then one day they’re snatched out of their beds and brought here to hand pieces of our world over to a bunch of _monsters_!” Kee had nearly screamed that last part and the woman reacted as though she expected to be struck. _She should be._ Kee thought.

The woman cowered there for a few moments, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Kee worked to bring her anger under control. “Of course you didn’t.” She sneered. “Your government lies to you. And that would give you some excuse, except that you blindly accept what they tell you. You feel happy, and safe and superior, so you don’t even question it.” Kee turned away. “ _Kloss._ Why do I even bother?” 

With the woman silenced, Kee resumed checking the room over.

“The only other way out is through the mess hall.” The woman said softly.

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because I don’t want to be a hostage. You might have a chance to escape through there.”

“Oh, I don’t plan on escaping. We’re taking this facility and we’re going to return the workers back to their homes.” Kee began checking through drawers for a tricorder. After some searching she finally found one and switched it on to scan the corridor she’d come from. Sensors detected several Cardassians watching the corridor as others opened rooms and searched them. She pulled up a schematic of the facility and confirmed that the only other way out of the room was through the mess hall, but if she used that rout it would take her in the opposite direction. Her orders were to secure the facility, not to run away.

Kee found a metal table that wasn’t bolted to the floor and flipped it noisily over. Then she grabbed the Cardassian woman by the arm and dragged her behind it.

“What are you doing?” The woman asked.

“They’re going to find us eventually. I want to be ready.” She ducked behind the table and rested the tip of her phaser rifle on the edge of it as she began to hear someone on the other side of the door trying to override the lock. With her attention focused on the door she failed to notice the woman reaching for something on the floor. Suddenly she had a kitchen knife in her hand and lunged at her. Kee turned and fired. The woman lived long enough to see the burned wound in her chest before falling to the floor dead.

Just then the door opened. Kee turned back to it to see the silhouette of a Cardassian and began firing. The moment she stopped to inspect the damage she’d done, phaser blasts from at least three sources fired back at her through the door. The table she used as cover began to glow hot from the energy discharges. She waited for a pause, then raised up and fired again until the warning lite on her phaser blinked to indicate it was about to overheat.

Again she backed down and concealed herself behind the table. The return fire erupted again and the table began to disintegrate under the onslaught, so she slid herself behind another piece of equipment. She eyed her phaser, waiting for it to be ready again. The barrage stopped and she heard footsteps of troops come in the door. The phaser still wasn’t ready. She reached down and found the knife that had tumbled out of the woman’s hand and she palmed it.

Before they got to her, she heard phaser fire again, this time out in the corridor and the Cardassians returned to the doorway to fire back the other way. The warning light on her phaser winked off and she leaned out of her hiding place to see phaser blasts coming at the doorway from the corridor in both directions. The three Cardassians were well-hidden from the corridor but from her vantage point she could easily pick them off from behind. She raised her phaser to her cheek to aim, picked her first target and fired then quickly fired on the second. By then the third had turned to shoot back at her but a figure stepped into the doorway and shot him instead.

Kee felt her body slump in relief when she saw that it was Cadda. Then Ilwea, Alerra and Gam came into view. “Thanks.” She told them as she pushed herself up off of the floor.

“That was the last of them.” Cadda told her.

“Any luck on those medical supplies?” Kee asked.

“No.” Ilwea said, clearly disappointed. “We found their infirmary, but it had been destroyed, every piece of equipment is smashed.”

“Ren wants you and Ilwea in the control center while we round up the workers.” Cadda said.

“Alright.” Kee confirmed and headed toward the door.

* * *

Ren guarded Joial while he worked on getting the facility’s defenses back online. Now that he’d silenced the alarm it was easier to focus. As soon as they had shields and weapons they’d still only have a few hours to get the workers to safety before the Cardassians overwhelmed them. The problem was, he wasn’t sure exactly how to do that. There was a skimmer still sitting on the landing pad, but it wasn’t big enough to carry everyone. Besides, they’d likely be shot down before they got very far. They couldn’t transport out without lowering the shields and they’d only have time to transport a few people before the Cardassians were on top of them. A ground escape was also unlikely to succeed since they were probably already surrounded.

“Got it.” Joial said as the consoles around them reactivated.

“Raise the shields, charge the weapons.”

“Already on it.”

Just then Kee and Ilwea entered. “Cadda said you wanted to see us.”

“Yes, Ilwea, get on the computer and check to see if there’s anywhere around here you could go to find those medical supplies.” He turned to Kee, “We need to get these people out of here.”

Kee pursed her lips for a moment as she thought, “Is that skimmer still here?” When he nodded she continued, “If we could rig it up to fly remotely, we could use it as a decoy.”

He hadn’t thought of that, “Mmm. If we could mask our biosigns and keep the workers hidden, we can we transport them out in small batches while they’re busy with the skimmer.”

“It’ll be hard to hide that many biosigns.”

“Joial?”

“Um… I might be able to do it.” He said, already beginning to tap commands into the computer.

“I believe Alerra knows how to run a transporter. I want you to stay with her and watch her back. I’ll control the skimmer. Veeso and Fenja will transport out first to keep the area secure and we’ll beam all of the workers out. Then the rest of us will follow.”

“Got it.” Kee said and left to inform the others of the plan. He smiled after her for a moment, she’d make an excellent leader one day. Then he found a computer terminal and began scouting for a location to transport to.

* * *

Kee stood ready to keep watch over Ren, Joial and Alerra in the transporter room. Joial had enlisted Gam’s help setting up the remote navigation for the skimmer while he focused on obscuring their biosigns. Alerra was busy rigging the transporter console to self-destruct after the last transport was complete so the Cardassians wouldn’t be able to track where they went.

The door opened and Veeso and Fenja walked in. “The workers have all moved into the mining tunnels.” Veeso reported.

Kee could see Joial was running a scan with the sensors to confirm the workers were hidden. “The scattering field is masking them. As long as they stay put, we’ll be able to blind-transport them out.” He shut down the scanner and returned to what he was working on. “I’m routing remote control of the skimmer to this console.” He told Ren. “I’ll handle the scattering field and shields from over there.” Indicating the console on the other side of Alerra.

Veeso and Fenja stepped onto the transporter pad as Ren began working the controls. “I’m starting up the skimmer.”

Kee slipped her phaser rifle off of her shoulder and prepared to defend them.

“Skimmer’s ready. Drop the shields. Energize.” He said.

Veeso and Fenja dematerialized. Ren, Joial and Alerra focused silently on their tasks. Kee stood ready with her heart pounding, listening for any sign that soldiers were moving in from the corridor outside or transporting in.

“First group is away. Four more to go.” Alerra said.

“The skimmer is taking heavy fire.” Ren informed them.

“I could use the facility’s weapons to defend it to give us more time.” Joial offered.

“No. Then they’ll know someone’s still here.”

“Group two.” Alerra said.

Kee heard footsteps outside the door, she concentrated on keeping calm.

“The skimmer’s down.” Ren said and backed away from the console to raise his phaser toward the door.

“Group three.”

“Scattering field is still in place.” Joail said.

The door’s keypad indicated the exterior pad had been activated. It would only take them a minute to override the door lock. Kee breathed slowly.

“Group four.”

The keypad’s unlock icon blinked on. Kee began firing as soon as the door opened, Ren’s phaser fire joined hers a moment later. Kee resisted the urge to duck behind the consoles, her priority had to be protecting Alerra as long as necessary.

Suddenly Kee heard the sound of a transporter behind her. She turned to see three Cardassians beaming in. The moment they fully materialized she shot and killed the middle one. The one closest to Alerra turned to grab her but Kee rushed toward him. She slammed her shoulder low into his stomach while hooking her leg around his to pull it out from under him. She came down on top of him, digging her elbow into his neck. She was vaguely aware of Ren struggling with the other one and Joial firing at the door to keep them out.

“Done!” Alerra announced through the chaos.

Kee reached back to her hip and grabbed the kitchen knife she’d picked up earlier. With the Cardassian still pinned by his neck ridge she flipped the knife around in her hand and slid it across his neck. Blood poured out of the wound indicating that she’d hit the artery. Once his head lulled to the side she stood up to see that Ren had dispatched the other one. Before more Cardassians could beam in, Alerra activated the auto-transport program and the room dissolved around them to be replaced by a thick grove of short trees and tall grass.

Kee looked around to see both the workers and her comrades. As she breathed a sigh of relief she began to feel water seeping into her shoes and looked down to see that they were standing in a marsh. Cadda slogged over to Ren with a look on her face that made it clear she wasn’t happy about the wet feet either.

“Where to from here?” She asked.

Ren pulled out a tricorder, “Find somewhere dry and stay put for a couple of hours. There’s a settlement that way,” he said, looking up from the tricorder and pointing. “I’ll go see what I can arrange as far as shelter and transport.” Then he looked back and the tricorder and pointed off in a different direction, “Kee and Ilwea, there’s a large city that way. Go and see if you can get ahold of some medical supplies.”

Kee nodded her understanding and began walking with Ilwea away from the group.


	10. BAJOR: 9371 (2369, EARTH CALENDAR)

Kee pushed quickly through the forest, Joial in front of her and Naren behind. They moved quickly, taking a direct rout without worrying about being followed. It had been over a year and a half since she left her mother and brother at their Ilvian safe-house and just an hour ago they had received a distress call indicating trouble there.

The comm traffic that morning was chaotic, the Cardassians had begun demolishing public buildings, attacking towns and wiping out entire populations of refugee camps. Ren had sent Kee and her two companions out to Ilvia while the rest of the cell when to other locations where they could try to protect as many people as possible. At their current pace and on their current rout they would reach the safe-house in another hour. It was possible it was already too late, but they pushed on anyway.

When they neared the edge of the forest there was black smoke rising above the trees, but no sound of gunfire. Kee wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. They continued right through the checkpoint, the sentries having been pulled away from their posts. She caught Joial’s eye, this was definitely a bad sign. The three crept up to the edge of the clearing. Two men lay dead just ahead of them, phasers still in their hands. The other two sentries, also with phasers, were sprawled on the ground closer to the house. The house itself was burning, about half way engulfed. Not far from there she saw, with a mixture of relief and dismay, a group of people on their knees with their hands above their heads, surrounded by Cardassian soldiers. She counted them, “Twenty-seven people, Tahlla’s not there.”

Joial took the lead, “I’ll head up that way,” indicating the tree line to their right, “Naren, you circle around that way,” indicating their left, “Kee, stay here. We’ll set up a crossfire. Make sure you have a clean shot, take out as many as you can, then change position. Comms on?” They checked to make sure their comm units were functional before splitting up.

Kee crouched down, concentrated on keeping her breathing even and looked through the sight on her phaser rifle. The Cardassians would be able to locate her position as soon as she began firing, so she’d have two shots before she had to change position, three at the most. To add to the difficulty, some of the soldiers stood very close to their captives, she’d have to take them out without hitting the very people she was there to protect. Joial and Naren confirmed they were in position and each indicated their first two chosen targets.

On her uncle’s order she opened fire, hitting her first target and immediately moving to track her second who was already on the move. The safe-house residents scattered, looking for cover, and the Cardassians searched the edge of the clearing for the locations of their attackers. Kee fired a second time, just barely catching her target on the shoulder. He fell, but tracked the shot back to her and fired, hitting the tree next to her. She shot a third time but missed and quickly moved position, keeping her head below the underbrush. When she looked again, Naren had shot him for her. In her new position she fired two more shots, taking down two more Cardassians.

Kee scanned the area, all of the remaining Cardassians had taken cover and were firing, not at the three resistance members, but at the scattering civilians. She broke out of the tree line and shouted to them “Get down!” As they dropped to the ground she charged forward with no cover, shooting at the sources of the phaser blasts. Two more beams from her left and right converged on the same locations. A Cardassian voice broke through on her comm unit, whatever they had been planning to do here wasn’t worth it now, they were ordered to retreat. Instead of making their way back toward the entrance to the property, the soldiers were simply beamed away.

Momentarily safe, Kee pointed to the back of the property, “Get to the bunker!” As the residents picked themselves up and began running in that direction, she continued forward against the flow of people. Her mother ran to her, Kee asked, “Where’s Tahlla?”

Her mother grabbed Kee’s shoulders, panicked, “We couldn’t find her we think she’s inside!”

Kee looked at the burning house, “Go! Get to the bunker, I’ll be there soon.” She started moving toward the house, but her mother tried to hold on to her.

“No! You can’t go in there!”

She pulled herself away. “Go!” And ran inside before she realized what she was doing. She pulled the edge of her shirt around her mouth to block out some of the smoke and ducked down low. She shouted Tahlla’s name as she moved through the lower level of the house. Finally, near the back of the dining room she heard a faint voice, “ _Kee!_ ” After another few seconds of searching, she found the little girl and scooped her up in her arms. Tahlla wrapped her arms and legs around Kee and buried her face in her chest. Together they hurried back outside, coughing and gasping for breath.

Kee looked around to find that most people had run in the direction of the bunker and she followed with Tahlla. Naren was helping shepherd the people in the right direction, she handed Tahlla off to him just as the ground shook so violently it knocked them to their knees. She looked up to see a Cardassian transport lifting into the sky, it’s phasers pounding the ground below it. Knowing hand-held weapons wouldn’t do much good against a ship that size, Kee lifted her rifle to the sky anyway and started shooting. After getting Tahlla into the bunker, Naren joined her, firing up at the ship. More phaser blasts shook the ground and sent chunks of dirt flying around the pair, knocking Kee down to the ground. She rolled onto her back and fired again.

From her prone position she saw a single figure running in their direction from near the house wearing an orange-red vedic’s robe. It was Lorbi, naturally the last to get to safety. Kee watched in horror as the ship hovered overhead and a beam lanced down directly in his path. When the debris settled, she saw him lying on the ground, but still moving. She pushed herself up off of the ground and ran, staggering as the ground shook again and again. When she reached him she saw that he had burns covering half of his face, chest and one arm. “Come on.” She said as she pulled him up, supporting him on her shoulder. Naren continued firing up at the ship as he shadowed the two back to the bunker. The others helped Lorbi inside while Kee stood outside with Naren.

“That’s everybody but Joial.” He said.

Kee lifted her wrist to her mouth so the comm unit could pick up her voice over the defining sound of the Cardassian phasers systematically destroying the property. “Joial!” She shouted into it. She hadn’t seen him since they split up.

To her relief his voice came to her through the comm unit, _“There’s nobody left over here. Are you at the bunker?”_

“Yes.”

_“I can’t get to you! I’m pulling back into the forest to take cover. Get inside and close the door!”_

She did as she was told, pulling the massive door closed behind them and latching it. She leaned her back against the door and looked at the sea of faces looking up at her. “What’s happening?” Somebody asked.

Still breathing hard, Kee had to swallow before she could manage to speak. “They’re pulling out.” She said and rested her head back against the door to catch her breath.

_End of Part 1_

Part 2: Her life had been singularly focused on one task. Now that her people are free from Cardassian rule she is forced to find new purpose, and struggles to adapt as her life starts over.


End file.
